APC Primaries Crisis: Aspirants Defy Consensus, Push for Direct Vote in 2027

The All Progressives Congress is heading into its 2027 primaries with a serious internal headache. Gubernatorial and senatorial aspirants from multiple states are defying the party’s consensus-candidate approach — and they’re doing it openly, forms in hand, with receipts from Abuja Continental Hotel to prove it.

On Wednesday, the designated venue for form purchases at Ladi Kwali Hall was packed with aspirants, some of them from states where governors had already tried to anoint their preferred successors. The message: we’re running whether you like it or not.

Oyo as the Test Case

In Oyo State, both Senator Sharafadeen Alli and former Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu picked up their governorship nomination forms. Adelabu, who resigned as minister to pursue the race, came with a delegation. Alli made his case to journalists on the spot.

These are two credible candidates in a state where the APC governorship primary is scheduled for May 21. Neither has the explicit backing of the central party structure, but both have the forms, the money, and apparently the nerve. The same pattern is playing out in Lagos, where Olajide “Jandor” Adediran obtained forms despite the party leadership’s resolution backing Hamzat as consensus candidate.

Tinubu Backs Governors — For Now

Daily Post reported that President Tinubu has sided with governors on how primaries should be conducted, creating tension with National Assembly members who want more say. NASS lawmakers are walking a tightrope: publicly loyal to the President, privately fighting for their own survival in 2027.

The APC had adopted a broader consensus strategy as its 2027 approach — fewer contested primaries, more managed outcomes. But aspirants who have paid ₦100 million for presidential nomination forms or tens of millions for governorship forms are not going to sit quietly while governors handpick replacements.

The formal primary timetable has governorship elections set for May 21. If the party can’t reconcile the growing number of defiant aspirants before then, some states are heading for messy, contested primary battles — exactly what APC leadership was trying to avoid heading into its most consequential election cycle in years.

Sources: Punch, Daily Post