Tinubu Snubs Senate Leadership, Hands Governors Full Control Over 2027 APC Primaries — Lawmakers Panic

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has dealt a potentially fatal blow to the re-election ambitions of numerous All Progressives Congress senators and House members, rebuffing a high-stakes lobbying visit by the National Assembly leadership and formally placing the fate of sitting legislators in the hands of APC state governors ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The dramatic sequence of events unfolded across two closed-door meetings at the Presidential Villa in Abuja first with the extended leadership of the Senate on Wednesday evening, April 23, then with APC governors on Thursday, April 24 in what political observers are now describing as Tinubu’s most consequential internal party decision since assuming power in 2023.

The Senate’s Failed Lobbying Mission

Multiple senior National Assembly sources familiar with the meeting said the senators had gone to the Villa specifically to press for Tinubu’s assurances. According to one source, “The meeting was to plead for automatic tickets for senators but President Tinubu insisted that the governor of each state has the influence over candidates. They made a case for continuity and stability and argued for automatic tickets, but the President was very clear in his response. He told them plainly that governors were the leaders of the party in their states and must have a say on who gets the ticket.”

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One of our correspondents spotted the official Mercedes sedan of Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas arriving at the Villa at minutes past 5pm on Wednesday — a visit that was not on the President’s official schedule for the day.

Senate Majority Leader Michael Opeyemi Bamidele later confirmed the gathering on his verified X account in the early hours of Thursday, describing it as a session that deliberated on “matters of urgent national importance” following a closed executive session of the Senate.

Governors Get the Green Light

Less than 24 hours after turning away the Senate lobby, Tinubu convened APC governors at Aso Villa and handed them explicit authority over the primaries process.

Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago, who spoke to State House correspondents, said: “He gave us a matching order on what to do for him, he has given and ceded his executive power to the governors to go ahead and conduct primaries based on the Electoral Act, either a consensus or direct primaries. So he has reiterated his support for our decision, and he has given us a go ahead.”

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq added: “The timetable for the primaries has been released. We’ve discussed the process moving forward so that there will be free and fair elections, no rancour, at the end of the process, so the party comes out stronger, stronger than ever, heading towards the election.”

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The President’s position aligns with a stance already staked out by APC National Chairman Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda. At a media chat in Abuja on April 17, Nentawe stated bluntly: “There is no automatic ticket in our constitution. The party cannot promise an automatic ticket. The constitution of the party does not provide for automatic tickets, and the party cannot wishfully promise automatic ticket to anyone. The Electoral Act also does not provide for automatic ticket.” He added that performance, not incumbency, would be the deciding factor for those seeking re-election.

Casualties Already Emerging

The implications are immediate and severe for a significant number of sitting legislators whose relationships with their governors have deteriorated beyond repair.

In Ogun State, Senator Gbenga Daniel of Ogun East is facing a concerted effort by Governor Dapo Abiodun to reclaim the senate seat for himself. Daniel was reportedly shut out of a stakeholders’ meeting of the Ogun East senatorial district presided over by Abiodun, who cannot seek a third term as governor and has been picked as the preferred senatorial candidate, with Senate Committee on Appropriations Chairman Senator Adeola Olamilekan positioned as the governorship candidate.

In Benue State, the fallout between Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume and Governor Hyacinth Alia over control of the APC structure has pushed 10 of the state’s 11 federal lawmakers into Akume’s camp yet Tinubu gave Alia the green light at Thursday’s meeting to determine the direction of the state’s primaries.

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In late March, Deputy Spokesman of the House of Representatives Philip Agbese defected from the APC to the Labour Party, after his return prospects under the APC collapsed.

The Primaries Timetable

The APC’s revised 2027 primary timetable pegs House of Representatives primaries for May 15, Senate primaries for May 18, State House of Assembly primaries for May 20, governorship primaries for May 21, and the presidential primary for May 23. Sale of forms commences Saturday, April 25, and closes Saturday, May 2, with submission of completed forms by Monday, May 4.

INEC has fixed the Presidential and National Assembly elections for January 16, 2027, and governorship elections for February 6, 2027.

For the many APC lawmakers now watching their political futures dissolve into the hands of governors who neither like nor want them, the President’s decision is not merely a policy position, it is a political death sentence.