President Bola Tinubu has secured the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket for the 2027 election after recording overwhelming victories across states in the party’s direct primary exercise held nationwide on Saturday.
The exercise, which allowed registered APC members to vote at the ward level across the country, saw Mr Tinubu defeat his sole challenger, Stanley Osifo, by wide margins in most states where results were announced.
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The exercise, which party officials described as largely peaceful and orderly, reinforced Mr Tinubu’s dominance within the ruling party as he seeks a second term in office.
Several states delivered near-unanimous support for the president, underscoring the scale of his victory in the primary.
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In Sokoto State, Mr Tinubu secured all 301,000 votes cast, while in Ebonyi, he secured all 207,579 valid votes. Rivers also delivered overwhelming support for the president, returning 280,082 votes for Mr Tinubu and none for Mr Osifo. Cross River and Kogi recorded similarly strong margins, while Edo recorded only one vote for Mr Osifo and Bayelsa recorded five.
Some states recorded particularly high vote totals for the president.
Imo posted one of the highest figures, with Mr Tinubu polling 582,823 votes against Mr Osifo’s 103 votes. Kano followed with 500,852 votes for Mr Tinubu and 2,675 votes for Mr Osifo, while Gombe delivered 450,516 votes for the president.
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Delta, Akwa Ibom and Benue recorded 407,646, 389,197 and 375,507 votes, respectively, for Mr Tinubu, while Zamfara and Kwara delivered 321,579 and 310,990 votes, respectively.
Plateau also returned 242,023 votes for the president against Mr Osifo’s 303 votes, while Bayelsa delivered 277,192 votes in Mr Tinubu’s favour.
The wide margins across states reinforced the president’s hold on the ruling party ahead of the 2027 election cycle.
Governors and party leaders repeatedly described the exercise as peaceful, transparent and credible, while presenting it as evidence of the party’s grassroots strength and internal cohesion ahead of the general election.
Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori described the exercise as a test of the party’s strength before the 2027 election and argued that the direct primary model had strengthened internal democracy.
Similarly, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma said the turnout reflected growing grassroots support for the APC and Mr Tinubu’s leadership.
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“If only our party members vote for President Tinubu, he has already won the election,” Mr Uzodimma said while commending the party’s electronic membership registration and validation process.
Speaking after casting his vote in Lagos, Mr Tinubu described the exercise as a demonstration of internal democracy and expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the process nationwide.
“This is grassroots politics where every member of the party has the right to participate and be involved to ensure we have internal democracy,” the president said.
Meanwhile, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani said the massive turnout across the state’s wards reflected “unity, loyalty and confidence” in the APC and Tinubu’s leadership.
Mr Tinubu is expected to receive his certificate of return and the APC flag as the party’s presidential candidate following the completion of nationwide collation.
APC governors, members of the National Executive Committee, the National Working Committee, the National Assembly, and other party leaders are expected to attend the event in Abuja.
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