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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) 2026 National Convention has finally come and gone, leaving in its trail an admixture of the good, the ugly, and the bad.
Obviously, the attendance was top-notch as all the flamboyant chieftains, leaders, former and incumbent officers (elective and those appointed), members of the ruling party, and many other Nigerians attended the event.
From President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, all the principal officers of both chambers of the National Assembly, led by Senator Godswill Akpabio, Rt Hon. Tajudeen Abbas and their deputies, all the 31 state governors under the platform of the party, ably led by the chairman APC Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Hope Uzodimma, and his Nigeria Governors Forum counterpart, Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, to members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the convention was attended by everyone who matter in the party.
The national, state leadership of the ruling party, led by the returnee national chairman, Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, and the 8,453 delegates, made the event a frightening roll call of a galaxy of heavy-duty party faithful across the country.
On a positive note, the venue, a beautiful sight to behold, was really more than a convention ground. It was a campaign arena where all the aspiring party chieftains showcased more than a passing interest to contest in the next year’s general elections through the posters their supporters and loyalists conspicuously brandished at every corner and vicinity of the event venue.
The convention ground was unexpectedly turned into a jubilant enclave for interminable drumming, singing, dancing, and praise singing for the political leaders. It was also an event implicitly packaged to send a loud, visible, and intimidating signal to the already weakened opposition political parties of APC’s rootless disposition to showcase a taste of what to expect, particularly during the forthcoming 2027 presidential election.
From the speeches by the stakeholders, the realities on the ground and programmes of the event, the ruling party left no one in doubt that the convention encapsulates tailor-made arrangements to sing praises of President Bola Tinubu, his achievements, and more importantly, to showcase the overwhelming and domineering strength and influence of the APC-led government ahead of the general elections next year.
Curiously, there was a heavy deployment of security personnel who cordoned off all the adjoining roads around the venue, yet, there were serious security lapses both inside and outside the venue.
The convention venue was apparently a festering ground for all kinds of theft, resulting in many of the participants losing many of their valuables, such as handbags, handsets, wristwatches, eyeglasses, among many others.
Regrettably, the overzealous security agencies, comprising the military, the police and other paramilitary agencies, inflicted pain on the participants with several canisters of teargas released carelessly.
Narrating his scary ordeal, a journalist, Tom Okpe, said: “It was a terrible experience. If I knew or had the premonition that it would be as chaotic as this, I wouldn’t have bothered attempting to be part of the event.
“It was so bad that I lost my eyeglasses and nearly my phone and tablet ,” Okpe said.
Again, there was also so much to eat and drink, yet many, including the delegates, the invited and the uninvited participants, agonisingly endured hunger and thirst for hours on end, as the event lasted.
On the other hand, the convention was a carnival of sorts as the participants appeared colourfully dressed with branded shirts of the party or the aspirants they are drumming support to contest next year’s elections.
However, beyond the visible cosmetics display at the event, what many pundits might single out as one of the biggest takeaways was the party’s continuation of the culture and tradition of opting for consensus arrangements in the selection of the party leaders.
The trend, which started at the grassroots during the ward, local government, state, and zonal congresses, culminated in the emergence of the members of the National Working Committee (NWC) at the convention through a unity list.
Inquisitively, analysts believe that the convention was a prelude to the party’s primary and endorsement of President Tinubu for next year’s presidential poll. This, they contend, was the only justification for assembling over a thousand participants across the country in Abuja just to raise a unity list through consensus arrangements for the party’s national officers.
Daily Sun can confirm that there was no meticulous application of democratic tendencies in the way and manner the new officers emerge. The purchase and submission of the expression of interest and nomination forms, the screening and final release of the successful aspirants through a unity list, were all deeply shrouded in utmost secrecy and confidentiality.
Observers were surprised to notice that aspirants who did not personally purchase nomination forms, appear before the screening subcommittee before the deadline dates, were considered in making the unity list ahead of their contemporaries who went through the rigours.
Daily Sun gathered that highhandedness was deployed to suppress and suspend interested aspirants who attempted to pick nomination forms against certain national officers, and the crushing bite against the aspirant who instituted a N100 million legal suit against the party.
Apart from deliberately printing a very limited number of nomination forms and micro-zoning the positions to states, there was an obvious excessive use of threats to intimidate any dissident party stakeholder who tried to violate the statutory processes and arrangements.
More instructively, all machinery was put in place to ensure compliance with the strict and rigid zoning arrangements adopted during the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, held in December last year. To say the least, the APC convention apparently had the trappings of political intrigues, horse-trading, scheming, clashes of interest, and anointing of aspirants by the powers that be.
The convention will definitely go down in history as one that the presidency, the state governors, and the national leadership of the party really flexed muscles before arriving at the consensus about the aspirants that finally made the unity list.
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At the end, those who scaled the hurdles of the intense political intrigues to emerge brand new national officers to pilot the day-to-day affairs of the ruling party and spearhead the nomination of candidates for next year’s crucial general elections include: National Chairman, Yilwatda, Deputy National Chairman (North), Ali Bukar Dalori, Deputy National Chairman (South), Benjamin Obi Nwoye, National Secretary, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, Deputy National Secretary, AbdulKarim Abubakar Kana.
Others are: National Legal Adviser, Murtala Aliyu Kankia, National Treasurer, Uguru Mathew Ofoke, National Financial Secretary, Amb. Haruna Ginsau, National Organising Secretary, Muhammad Sulaiman Argungu, National Welfare Secretary, Donatus Enyinnah Nwankpa, National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, National Auditor, Senator Abubakar Maikafi, and National Women Leader, Dr. Mary A. Idele.
The remaining are: National Youth Leader, Dayo Israel, National Leader (Persons with Disabilities), Aare Durotolu Oyebode Bankole, Deputy National Financial Secretary, Hammam Adamu Ali Kumo, Deputy National Organising Secretary, Emeka Okafor, Deputy National Women Leader, Zainab Abubakar Ibrahim, Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Meseko Durosinmi Josiah, Deputy National Welfare Secretary, Christopher Michael Akpan, Deputy National Auditor, Olugbenga Olayemi, Deputy National Legal Adviser, Ibrahim Salawu, Deputy National Treasurer, Ben Akak, and Deputy National Youth Leader, Jamaludeen Kabir.
Those selected as National Ex-Officio include: North Central, Opawoye Oluwatoyin Bunmi; North East, Adamu Jallah; North West, Muhammed Jamu Yusuf; South East, Ikechukwu Umeh; South South, Francis Kolokolo; and South West, Bunmi Orinowo.
But, to Yilwatda, the mode of emergence of the national officers was totally inconsequential to the humongous tasks before the new leadership, and in his acceptance speech, he described his re-election as a call to greater service, pledging commitment to party unity and national progress.
“Let me assure you that I completely accept this mandate with full understanding of the way of history, the expectation of our people, and the urgency of this moment. We are ready to serve, ready to lead, and ready to build the party, together with the nation. I assure the members that the new leadership will not fail or falter in its responsibilities.
“I urge everybody to remain steadfast and united, because we stand stronger together as a party, with unity, progress will be steady and enduring, and our victories assured. The burden of leadership to provide for the millions of our members from every ward, state, and corner of this nation will now rest on us and our shoulders. I will take it with gratitude,” he assured.
And beyond the cacophony of the sound bites of complaints, and ecstatic celebrations trailing the unity list, the party may have used the historic outcome of the national convention to set a model and trajectory that may help or consume it in the forthcoming 2027 general elections.
The wider implication is that every other elective arm of government will lay claims to the consensus option the party has adopted in selecting the national and subnational leadership, to also demand automatic tickets.
Perhaps, it might be on that basis that the clamour for an automatic ticket has started from both the executive and legislative arms of government. And requesting it at the convention ground, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, had passionately appealed to the party’s national leadership to ensure the return of committed lawmakers in the 2027 general elections, stressing the need for continuity to sustain legislative effectiveness and governance.
Abbas, in his appeal, said: “This is why I say that President Tinubu must continue this work beyond 2027. Not for sentiment, not for convenience, but because the work has begun, and it must be completed. It is because the foundation has been laid, and must be built upon, and because the path has been chosen, and must be sustained.
“If we are to sustain that path, continuity must not be limited to the executive alone. It must extend to the legislature. Mr. President, our governors, I make this appeal with urgency. As we commit to continuity at the executive level, we must also secure stability within the legislature.
“The high turnover of Senators and Members, over the years, has come at a cost to governance, to law-making, and to public resources spent on constant training and retraining. Experience is lost, institutional memory is weakened, and momentum is broken. We cannot continue to start every cycle afresh and expect consistent progress.
“The legislature is not separate from this journey. It is a partner in it. We legislate for the same reforms…We defend the same national interest. I, therefore, urge deliberate efforts to support the return of committed and performing legislators, so that together, the executive and the legislature can sustain this path and complete the work we have begun,” he pleaded.
Another obvious outcome of the convention was the stakeholders turning the venue into an arena to praise-singing President Tinubu and unanimously endorse his second term re-election.
Most speakers had amplified favourable aspect of his achievements, highlighting several areas in which he has towered above his contemporaries. Old, young, males, females, comprising students, business community, farmers, physically challenged across Nigeria, rightly or wrongly, eulogised him on his landmark achievements.
“The foundations are being reset. Revenues to states have improved,” Reps Speaker said, adding “Transparency has increased. Infrastructure is advancing. Security coordination is strengthening. These are not isolated steps.
“They are part of a clear direction. Reform is not a sprint; it is a journey. Reform is a commitment that requires continuity. This is why I say that President Tinubu must continue this work beyond 2027,” he said.
Also lauding Tinubu’s reforms, governors through their forums chairmen, Hope Uzodimma and Abdulrasaq Abdulrahman, said: “Under President Tinubu-led administration, the direction is clearer. The reform logic is stronger, and the prospects for long-term growth and development are brighter.
“What leadership requires is not merely the ability to manage the present, but the wisdom to prepare the future. In this regard, he has shown statesmanship. We also acknowledge that the reforms are meaningful only when they touch lives. That is why the PGF remains fully aligned with the Renewed Hope agenda and deeply committed to its social progress,” Uzodimma said.
The Tinubu-led administration has introduced commendable programmes that have enhanced the lives of citizens. The tax reform bill has also been passed in our State Assemblies and adopted. Through initiatives such as the State Action on Business Enabling Reforms, states are strengthening revenue systems, improving land administration, and enhancing public financial management to fund priorities more sustainably,” Governor Abdulrasaq said.
However, in the midst of the encomiums, former governor of Katsina State and chairman of the convention committee, Aminu Bello Masari, was courageous enough to acknowledge that Nigeria is facing several challenges, noting that the president is confronting them directly.
“We must also acknowledge the challenges confronting our nation: insecurity, economic pressures, inequality, and social divisions. But let us be clear—these challenges are not insurmountable. They are opportunities to prove our resilience, demonstrate our unity, and affirm our commitment to building a Nigeria that is stronger, fairer, and more prosperous than ever.
“A Nigeria that is stronger, fairer, and more prosperous—the APC must continue to lead with courage, vision, and unwavering dedication to the people. The APC remains committed to all these,” he assured.
