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• NWC members, Tinubu’s 2023 support groups protest exclusion
• Presidency: List stands, adjustments’ll be made
From Fred Itua, Abuja and Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Crisis is brewing in the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the composition of its 2027 Presidential Campaign Council, as protests over alleged marginalisation spread from members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to support groups that worked for President Bola Tinubu’s election in 2023.
Amid the growing discontent, the Presidency said on Wednesday that although the campaign council would not be withdrawn, adjustments would be made to accommodate more party members and stakeholders.
Some NWC members are unhappy that strategic positions in the 223-member campaign structure were allocated largely to governors, National Assembly leaders and other public office holders, while statutory party officers were either excluded from major responsibilities or assigned deputy roles.
The National Coordinator of Disciples of Jagaban (DOJ), Abdulhakeem Adegoke Alawuje, also joined the protest, saying supporters who invested their time, resources and political capital in Tinubu’s 2023 presidential campaign were being sidelined as preparations for the 2027 election gathered momentum.
President Tinubu is chairman of the campaign council while Vice President Kashim Shettima and APC National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, are vice chairmen. Former Zamfara State governor, Abdul’aziz Yari, is Director-General, while Imo State governor and Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), Hope Uzodimma, is secretary.
But Daily Sun gathered that the positioning of Yilwatda has emerged as one of the major sources of grievance within the party.
Aggrieved officials contend that, under established party practice, the national chairman should occupy a central operational position in a presidential campaign structure, with the Presidency working in conjunction with the party leadership in determining appointments and coordinating the campaign machinery.
In the 2027 arrangement, however, Yilwatda was designated vice chairman without clearly defined executive authority over the day-to-day operations of the council, a position some NWC members privately described as ceremonial rather than functional.
Party insiders told Daily Sun that the pattern was repeated in the composition of the council’s various directorates.
Rather than NWC officers occupying substantive leadership positions in key directorates, senior National Assembly members, governors and serving public officials were handed major coordinating responsibilities, while some long-serving party officers were assigned deputy positions.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio was named Deputy Director-General for the southern campaign, while Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni; Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele; and Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, were also assigned senior responsibilities.
Some party officials complained that the arrangement effectively subordinated statutory party officers to legislators and government appointees who hold no formal positions in the NWC.
The complaints widened on Wednesday when the DOJ, one of the groups that mobilised for Tinubu in the 2023 election, publicly protested the treatment of the President’s longstanding supporters.
Alawuje said it was painful that people who stood behind Tinubu when his presidential ambition faced political opposition were now struggling to secure meaningful roles in the structure being assembled for his re-election.
“We worked tirelessly for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023. We mobilised our people, defended his mandate and took the message of Renewed Hope to Nigerians. We did all of these because we believed in him and his vision for Nigeria,” he said.
According to him, supporters expected that their sacrifices would be recognised and that they would be given opportunities to contribute to the administration’s consolidation and re-election efforts.
“We are not asking for positions for the sake of positions. What we are demanding is recognition and inclusion. Those who stood with Asiwaju when it mattered should not suddenly become irrelevant when another election is approaching,” Alawuje said.
The support group, however, maintained that it remained loyal to Tinubu and committed to his re-election in 2027.
“We are loyal to Asiwaju and we remain committed to his 2027 project. Our concern is that the people who built the political structure from the grassroots must not be forgotten,” he said.
The composition of the council had earlier generated unease over the reported omission from the initial list of Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, the highest-ranking federal political office holder from the South-East.
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Former Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, who served as Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in the 2023 election, and Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, were also reportedly absent from the original names released.
Party officials familiar with the process told Daily Sun that the list was substantially driven from within the Presidency rather than through the customary process of negotiations between the Presidency and the party leadership.
The sources also claimed that governors under the PGF exercised considerable influence over the composition of the council.
One source further alleged that the compilation of the list, from its top leadership positions to other members, was handled by a powerful member of the House of Representatives from Lagos State, who was subsequently named a Deputy Director-General in charge of one of the campaign directorates.
According to the source, the lawmaker worked on the document in close coordination with the Presidency.
He was said to have played a similarly influential role in the 2022/2023 campaign cycle, when the composition of the presidential campaign structure also generated complaints from some party leaders over alleged inadequate consultation.
The Presidency has not publicly addressed the specific allegation concerning the lawmaker’s role in compiling the latest list.
But Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, said on Wednesday that reports that the campaign council had been withdrawn were incorrect.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Dare said the structure remained valid but acknowledged that adjustments could be made as the campaign machinery developed.
“As it is with every other list, there’s a room for subcommittees. Those subcommittees have not been formed, and so many other names will come into that subcommittee,” he said.
“So that list has not been withdrawn. The APC has issued a statement to that effect yesterday, that list stands. But of course, there will be adjustments. The list is not cast in stone, just like every other list.”
Asked whether the adjustments amounted to a review of the controversial list, Dare rejected the description.
“Not a review, just adjustments where necessary,” he said.
Pressed further, the presidential aide added: “Review is wholesale, this is not wholesale.”
APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, had similarly pushed back on Tuesday against reports that the council had been formally withdrawn, saying any changes would be communicated through appropriate party channels.
For Alawuje, however, the Presidency’s acknowledgement that the campaign structure was not final should provide an opportunity to address complaints from those who believe they have been excluded.
“The list is said not to be cast in stone. That is why we are appealing that our people should be considered. Let there be room for those who worked for this administration before, during and after the 2023 election,” he said.
He argued that accommodating grassroots support groups would strengthen rather than weaken the President’s re-election campaign.
“We have the structures, we have the people and we have the commitment. We only need to be given the opportunity to contribute,” he said.
Alawuje warned the party against creating the impression that supporters who made sacrifices for Tinubu’s emergence had been abandoned after electoral victory.
“We do not want to labour in vain. We want to see a campaign structure that carries everybody along and rewards loyalty through meaningful participation,” he said.
Attention has now shifted to the promised adjustments and whether they will address the grievances of NWC members, support groups and other stakeholders as the APC moves to contain internal discontent ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
