Vice President Kashim Shettima on Thursday returned the presidential nomination and expression of interest forms on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, formally entering the incumbent into the presidential primary race of the All Progressives Congress ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The forms were submitted on the final day scheduled for the exercise during a high-profile event held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, a venue specially designated for the president’s submission process, while other aspirants submitted theirs at a separate hotel approved by the party.
Speaking at the event, Shettima described the occasion as a reaffirmation of confidence in Tinubu’s leadership, insisting that the president had successfully guided Nigeria through a difficult economic period and laid the foundation for national recovery.
“The President has delivered on the mandate of stability and national revival. The storms of the past years have not diminished him. They have made a party hero out of him,” Shettima stated.
He recalled that when Tinubu assumed office, Nigeria’s foreign reserves stood at about $33.99 billion, which he said was insufficient to sustain fuel importation for even one month. According to him, instead of shifting blame, the president implemented bold economic reforms aimed at stabilising the economy and rebuilding investor confidence.
“We have crossed the river. We are out of the dark tunnel. Nigeria is on a path to recovery and growth,” he added, while calling on Nigerians across political, religious and ethnic divides to support Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.
The event came barely 24 hours after the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC, during its 188th meeting on Wednesday, waived the screening requirement for Tinubu and declared him automatically cleared to participate in the party’s presidential primary without appearing before a screening panel.
The party leadership explained that the decision was based on the overwhelming endorsement already received by the president from the Progressive Governors Forum, the National Assembly leadership and other APC organs during the party’s National Summit held on May 22, 2025. The NWC also argued that Tinubu had already undergone screening before the 2022 presidential primaries, making another exercise unnecessary.
APC National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, described the event as a celebration of continuity in governance, economic reforms and infrastructure development. He reminded party members that the National Executive Committee (NEC), the party’s second-highest decision-making organ, had unanimously endorsed Tinubu for a second term during its meeting last year.
“All of us seated here who are members of NEC are bound by the decision we made last year as a commitment to Mr President,” Yilwatda said.
According to him, the waiver granted by the NWC was intended to uphold the integrity of that earlier endorsement.
Yilwatda also defended the administration’s performance, highlighting major infrastructure projects including the Lagos–Kano–Maradi railway corridor, the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline, ongoing port modernisation efforts, and the construction of a more than 1,000-kilometre road corridor stretching from Badagry to Sokoto.
He said the Maradi dry port would position Nigeria as a major trade gateway for neighbouring landlocked countries such as Niger, Chad, Sudan and Burkina Faso, thereby creating a significant non-oil revenue source for the country.
On the Badagry-Sokoto highway project, the APC chairman noted that the corridor would support over 300 dams for irrigation and agriculture, helping to establish one of Nigeria’s largest food production belts.
Meanwhile, all 31 governors elected on the platform of the APC have backed a consensus arrangement for Tinubu’s emergence as the party’s sole presidential candidate in 2027.
Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, announced the position on behalf of the governors during the submission ceremony in Abuja.
Uzodimma said APC-controlled states were united behind the president and committed to campaigning based on the administration’s achievements to secure his re-election.
He explained that the endorsement was not a fresh decision but a continuation of the resolution reached during the APC Political Summit last year, where governors elected under the party unanimously encouraged Tinubu to seek a second term.
Elijah Adeyemi
No comments:
Post a Comment