Shettima Leads APC Governors, Power Blocs as Tinubu Submits 2027 Nomination Forms
By Kabir Akintayo
The ruling APC yesterday staged a show of strength in Abuja as Vice President Kashim Shettima led governors, lawmakers and senior party figures to formally submit President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s nomination and expression of interest forms ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The event, held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, turned into a carnival-like gathering with drumming, singing and celebration as party leaders rallied behind the President’s second-term bid.
Receiving the documents on behalf of the party, APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda said the ruling party decided to waive the screening process for Tinubu in recognition of the unanimous endorsement earlier granted by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).
“The NEC is the second-highest decision-making organ of the party. We decided to waive screening for Mr President so that we can maintain the dignity of the NEC, the NWC and the dignity of all party members who overwhelmingly endorsed him,” Yilwatda said.
The APC chairman credited Tinubu’s administration with major infrastructure and economic reforms, citing projects such as the Lagos-Kano-Maradi railway and the Sokoto-Badagry road corridor as evidence of the administration’s commitment to building a projected $1 trillion economy.
Speaking during the submission ceremony, Shettima praised Tinubu’s leadership style, saying the President chose bold reforms over excuses despite inheriting a fragile economy.
“Instead of passing blame, instead of kicking the ball down the road, he decided to win and to make the country work. And Nigeria is now working,” the Vice President declared.
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He described the President’s nomination as a “priceless” step toward sustaining national stability, insisting that the Renewed Hope Agenda had guided Nigeria “through a dark tunnel” toward economic recovery.
Also throwing his weight behind Tinubu’s re-election bid, Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, Hope Uzodimma, said all 31 APC governors had unanimously resolved to support the President’s second-term ambition.
“We firmly commit ourselves to work assiduously to market the policies and successes recorded by this administration and secure the public mandate required for Mr President to be re-elected,” Uzodimma said.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, described Tinubu’s performance in office as “phenomenal,” arguing that the administration’s achievements had attracted new political stakeholders into the APC fold.
“If there is one single person we can single out today with confidence that his election is guaranteed, it is Mr President,” Abbas stated.
Meanwhile, the final day for submission of nomination forms also witnessed intensified political activity within the party as aspirants for various offices pushed their ambitions.
Katsina State Governor Dikko Umaru Radda, who submitted his forms for a second term, announced that APC stakeholders in the state had adopted consensus to preserve party unity.
“We met with all stakeholders and agreed to adopt consensus to maintain peace and cohesion within the party,” Radda said, boasting that the APC remained firmly in control of Katsina politics.
However, in Delta State, former Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege insisted on a direct primary to determine the APC candidate for Delta Central Senatorial District, highlighting emerging cracks in some state chapters as the party heads into the 2027 electoral season.
