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• Sylva: Nigerians’ll speak with their votes
From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa and Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
Fresh cracks have emerged within the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, quitting the ruling party over what he described as its abandonment of its founding ideals, while a northern youth group campaigning for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election rejected the appointment of former Borno State governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, into the party’s presidential campaign structure.
While Sylva described the APC as a “floundering ship” that had disappointed the vast majority of Nigerians and predicted that voters would speak against it in 2027, the Northern Youths Frontiers (NYF), which said it was mobilising for the Tinubu/Kashim 2027 project across the North, warned that Sheriff’s appointment as North-East Zonal Coordinator of the APC Presidential Campaign Council could become a political and reputational liability.
The two developments present contrasting but potentially troubling challenges for the ruling party as it prepares for the 2027 contest — one from a founding member walking away from the APC and questioning its direction, and the other from within the ranks of groups campaigning for its continued hold on power.
Sylva, a former governor of Bayelsa State, announced his resignation in a strongly worded letter dated August 31, 2026 and addressed to the APC chairman of Ward 4 in Brass Local Government Area of the state.
He said his resignation, which took immediate effect, followed consultations with his family, associates, colleagues and sympathisers.
“Having consulted widely with my family, associates, colleagues and sympathisers, I wish to formally tender my resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC), with immediate effect,” Sylva said.
The former minister recalled his role as a founding member of the APC, saying it was “deeply saddening” to witness how the ideals upon which the party was founded had been “so thoroughly and unrecognisably thwarted.”
“I cannot, in all good conscience, continue to belong to a party whose leaders believe that ‘all is fair in politics,’ and have consistently demonstrated that belief in practice,” he said.
According to him, “all cannot be fair in any endeavour of life,” because “the demands of basic decency and morality forbid it.”
Sylva also launched a broadside against the Federal Government, declaring that the administration formed under the APC had failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians and that he could see neither “a credible attempt nor any possibility of a revamp.”
“The present Government, formed under the banner of the APC we once loved, has disappointed the vast majority of Nigerians,” he said.
“I am, therefore, left with no other choice than to jettison a floundering ship whose fate appears to have been sealed by its irredeemable load of iniquities.”
Looking towards the next general election, Sylva predicted that Nigerians would use their votes to change the country’s political direction.
“I have no doubt that, in the coming election, Nigerians will vote for Nigeria and free the country from this stranglehold on our beautiful country,” he said.
Even as Sylva walked away from the ruling party, the Northern Youths Frontiers opened another front, demanding that the APC drop Sheriff as North-East Zonal Coordinator of its 2027 Presidential Campaign Council.
The group described Sheriff’s appointment as a potential political and reputational liability capable of undermining the credibility of the campaign and grassroots mobilisation in the North.
In a statement by its North-West Zonal Coordinator, Saminu Tukur, NYF said campaign appointments should reflect the confidence and sensitivities of the electorate whose support the ruling party was seeking.
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Significantly, the group said it had itself been mobilising support for the Tinubu/Kashim 2027 project across the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory.
NYF acknowledged that Sheriff had denied allegations and controversies associated with aspects of his political career and stressed that allegations should not be treated as convictions, as questions of criminal responsibility were matters for competent legal institutions.
It, however, argued that the considerations for occupying a strategic campaign position went beyond criminal culpability.
“The presidential campaign is not a courtroom. Campaign appointments carry political and reputational consequences,” Tukur said.
“Individuals occupying prominent positions become part of the public face of the campaign and are expected to command confidence, communicate the candidate’s message effectively and assist in building broad-based support.
“The central question, therefore, is whether Senator Sheriff’s appointment adds sufficient strategic value to the Tinubu/Kashim campaign to justify the controversy surrounding it.”
Tukur said the political sensitivities were particularly important in the North-East, given the enormous human, social and economic consequences the region had suffered from insurgency.
According to him, public perception and historical experience could not be ignored in deciding who should occupy prominent positions in a presidential campaign.
The group said the APC needed to keep its 2027 campaign focused on security, employment, infrastructure, education, economic opportunities and the welfare of young Nigerians rather than controversies surrounding individual campaign officials.
“NYF believes campaign officials should help advance that message, not become the subject of recurring controversy capable of diverting attention from the candidate and the issues the campaign seeks to present to voters,” Tukur said.
It consequently urged the APC leadership to reconsider Sheriff’s appointment and select another North-East coordinator, arguing that there were experienced politicians in the region capable of undertaking the responsibility while commanding greater public confidence.
“The APC must carefully weigh the political value of every individual against the potential cost to the wider campaign,” Tukur said.
He maintained that northern youths constituted a significant proportion of both the electorate and grassroots political mobilisation structure and should not be treated as peripheral to decisions affecting the campaign.
“APC should choose campaign assets that expand its coalition, strengthen its message and inspire confidence among voters,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sylva introduced another dimension to his exit by copying the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in his resignation letter and accusing the anti-graft agency of increasingly acting like an appendage of the ruling party.
He said he deliberately copied the commission because “of late, it has conducted itself more as an organ of the APC than as an institution of State.”
Sylva acknowledged that his resignation and criticism of the ruling party could expose him and his associates to increased scrutiny.
“I am fully aware that this action of mine may invite a redoubled witch-hunt against me and my associates, but that is a risk I am willing to take,” he said.
