— APC Moves Presidential Primary to May 23, Releases Revised Election Timetable
President Bola Tinubu has rebuffed lobbying efforts by the leadership of the Senate to secure automatic return tickets for the ruling party’s sitting legislators ahead of the 2027 general elections, instead reaffirming the authority of state governors over the selection of candidates in their respective states and formally empowering them to drive the primaries process, a decision that has deepened anxiety among federal lawmakers and could trigger a high turnover in the National Assembly.
The President’s decision, made at a closed-door meeting with the extended leadership of the Senate at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday evening and reinforced at a separate meeting with APC governors on Thursday, was accompanied by the release of a revised primary timetable that sets Senate primaries for May 18, House of Representatives primaries for May 15, and the presidential primary for May 23, with sales of nomination forms commencing this Saturday, April 25.
The twin developments have sent shockwaves through the National Assembly, where several senators and House members whose relationships with their state governors have been strained now face the prospect of being denied return tickets by the very governors Tinubu has empowered to determine who gets the party’s nomination.
Multiple senior National Assembly sources familiar with Wednesday evening’s meeting said the senators went to the Presidential Villa specifically to press for Tinubu’s assurance that serving legislators would receive automatic return tickets.
The official sedans of Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas were spotted arriving at the Villa at minutes past 5pm on Wednesday, for a visit that was not on the President’s official schedule.
“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,” one source disclosed.
“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,” the source added.
The plea was made against the backdrop of Tinubu’s earlier suggestion that he would “do everything within the party’s power” to ensure the return of serving legislators, a promise that had raised expectations across the National Assembly but which Wednesday’s meeting appeared to walk back significantly.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Opeyemi Bamidele confirmed the gathering in a post on his verified X account in the early hours of Thursday, describing it as a session that deliberated on “matters of urgent national importance.” He wrote that “far-reaching decisions were taken at this strategic meeting” but did not disclose specifics.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga separately confirmed the meeting, describing it as a “consultation between Tinubu and the extended leadership of the Senate.”
Less than 24 hours after rebuffing the Senate leadership, Tinubu convened a second meeting, this time with APC governors, at which he formally ceded authority over the primaries process to the state executives.
The governors’ meeting, initially scheduled for 4pm at the Council Chamber, began at approximately 5pm after the venue was moved to the Conference Room of the President’s Office. In attendance were Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno, Hope Uzodimma of Imo, Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe, Hyacinth Alia of Benue, Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti, Peter Mbah of Enugu, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara, and others, with some states represented by deputy governors.
Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago, speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting, revealed the extent of the authority Tinubu had delegated.
“We came to thank the President for his magnanimity and his support to the governors and for our party, the APC. 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,” Bago stated.
“He has reiterated his support for our decision, and he has given us a go-ahead,” Bago added.
Kwara Governor AbdulRazaq confirmed the development, stating that the process had been discussed to ensure “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.”
Tinubu’s position aligns with the stance taken days earlier by the APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, who stated categorically that automatic tickets are not part of the party’s ethos.
“There is no automatic ticket in our constitution. The party cannot promise an automatic ticket,” Yilwatda stated at a media chat in Abuja on April 17.
“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. It says all primaries must be either by consensus or by direct primaries,” the national chairman added.
He stated that performance, not incumbency, would be the deciding factor for those seeking re-election.
The APC’s revised 2027 primary timetable was announced by the party’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Duro Meseko, at the 186th National Working Committee meeting on Thursday.
The key dates are as follows.
Sales of nomination forms commence Saturday, April 25, and run through Saturday, May 2, 2026. The last day for submission of completed forms and accompanying documents is Monday, May 4, 2026.
Screening of aspirants for House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, and Governorship positions will run from Wednesday, May 6, to Friday, May 8. Presidential aspirant screening is scheduled for Saturday, May 9. Publication of screening results for all categories is Monday, May 11. Screening appeals will be handled from Tuesday, May 12, to Wednesday, May 13.
Primary elections commence on Friday, May 15, with House of Representatives primaries. Senate primaries follow on Monday, May 18. State House of Assembly primaries are on Wednesday, May 20. Governorship primaries are on Thursday, May 21. The presidential primary is on Saturday, May 23.
Post-primary appeal committees will sit on May 18 for House of Representatives, May 20 for Senate, May 21 for State House of Assembly, May 23 for governorship, and May 25 for presidential.
Meseko confirmed the party has adopted both modes of primary election provided in the Electoral Act 2026, namely direct primary and consensus, for selecting candidates.
Tinubu’s decision to empower governors has immediate implications for several serving legislators whose governors are either seeking their seats or actively working against their return.
In Ogun State, Senator Gbenga Daniel of Ogun East faces 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 the governor. Abiodun, who cannot seek a third term as governor, has been positioned as the preferred senatorial candidate, with Senator Adeola Olamilekan positioned as the governorship candidate.
In Nasarawa State, Senator Aliyu Wadada, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, has secured a consensus endorsement for the governorship, which would see him voluntarily exit the Senate.
In Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli received the APC’s backing on April 15 to succeed Governor Makinde, another voluntary departure.
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. However, Tinubu’s decision at Thursday’s meeting, which Alia attended, gave the governor the green light to determine the direction of the state’s primaries, potentially placing those 10 lawmakers at a severe disadvantage.
In late March, Deputy Spokesman of the House of Representatives Philip Agbese had already defected from the APC to the Labour Party after his return prospects under the APC collapsed, a harbinger of what may await other lawmakers who find themselves on the wrong side of their governors.
A North-East senator who spoke on condition of anonymity warned that the APC is walking a constitutional tightrope in its approach to the primaries.
