APC Screens Hamzat, Tuggar, Pantami for Lagos, Bauchi, Gombe Governorship Primaries

The All Progressives Congress on Saturday screened a batch of high-profile governorship aspirants ahead of its 2027 primaries, with Lagos Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, former Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar, and ex-Communications Minister Isa Pantami all passing through the party’s screening committee in Abuja.

The exercise took place at the Kaduna Governors Lodge in Abuja, where a panel from the APC National Working Committee verified aspirants’ credentials and assessed their party standing ahead of forthcoming governorship primaries across multiple states.

Hamzat Confident on Lagos

Hamzat, who is gunning for the Lagos governorship in 2027, said the process was straightforward — focused on document verification and a review of each aspirant’s party history.

“Today here at the Kaduna House in Abuja, the essence is to make sure that your credentials are correct. They validate everything you submitted to make sure there are no issues,” he told journalists after his screening.

He left with little doubt about how he sees his chances. “I’m very comfortable. I’m absolutely comfortable. But we’ll see. That’s the essence. It’s for our citizens, our party members. It is going to be their choice. I’m confident that at the end of the day, I will be the next Governor of Lagos State,” Hamzat said.

Tuggar and Pantami Also Cleared

Tuggar, a former diplomat who served as Nigeria’s Ambassador to Germany before becoming Foreign Affairs Minister, is contesting the Bauchi governorship for the APC. He described his screening as smooth, given his long history with the party — dating back to his days in the legacy ANPP and CPC before the APC merger.

He was candid about the chances of a consensus candidate in Bauchi: “To be honest, it is unlikely that there is going to be a consensus in Bauchi State. I don’t think that there will be agreement amongst the aspirants.” He noted that a late surge of new forms-buyers the day before screening had significantly expanded the field.

Pantami, contesting for the Gombe governorship, described the screening as “very transparent, very objective, very friendly.” He emphasized the importance of the party’s planned direct primaries being genuinely independent. “Internal democracy and internal justice are very important to the survival of democracy in Nigeria,” he said, adding that he was not aware of any consensus arrangement in Gombe.

What Comes Next

The APC has signalled it will conduct direct primaries across states ahead of the 2027 elections, a move that Pantami called commendable. The party is balancing a complex set of governorship races — Lagos, Bauchi, and Gombe among them — where internal competition is heating up.

For Hamzat, this is the next step in a political journey he has publicly framed as being about service to Lagos. He submitted his nomination forms earlier in the week, writing that the 2027 race is about “building a Lagos that works better for every family, every business and every person that calls this state home.”

With screening done, the next major hurdle is the primaries themselves — and in at least two of the three states, the contest is far from settled.

Sources: ThisDay, Punch, The Authority