The All Progressives Congress unleashes its 2027 presidential primaries across 8,809 wards tomorrow. Every delegate must cast a single ballot that will anoint the party’s flag-bearer for the next general election. Security operatives and INEC observers have already locked down each venue to prevent the ballot snatching and thuggery that marred the 2023 cycle.
Behind the orderly façade, deep fractures are widening. The Bola Tinubu camp still controls the national secretariat and the delegate lists. Yet, governors from the North-West and South-South blocs have quietly mobilised their own slates of loyal delegates. Rumours persist that a last-minute pact between the Kaduna and Rivers factions could swing the nomination away from the incumbent’s preferred successor.
The stakes are existential. Any candidate who emerges without the full backing of the governors’ forum risks a repeat of the 2023 split that handed the PDP a lifeline. Legal challenges are already queued up; the APC constitution mandates a 21-day window for aggrieved aspirants to file petitions. If the primaries produce a disputed outcome, the courts will become the real kingmakers.
This ward-level contest is the first real test of Tinubu’s grip on the party. If he fails to deliver his chosen candidate, the APC will fracture into warring camps before the general election campaign even begins.
