Former ministers who resigned from President Tinubu’s cabinet to pursue elective positions ahead of the 2027 elections are recording mixed outcomes, as only two have secured party tickets so far.
The affected ex-ministers include former Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar; former Humanitarian Affairs Minister of State, Yusuf Sununu; former Transportation Minister, Saidu Alkali; former Labour Minister of State, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; and former Power Minister, Adebayo Adelabu.
While Onyejeocha and Sununu successfully secured APC tickets, Adelabu and Alkali lost their governorship bids in Oyo and Gombe states respectively. Tuggar’s political future remains uncertain amid growing tension within the APC in Bauchi State over alleged plans to impose a consensus candidate.
Following his defeat to Senator Sarafadeen Alli in the Oyo APC governorship primary, Adelabu rejected the process, alleging irregularities and insisting, “In some wards, our people were prevented from voting; they were intimidated, they were chased away violently. And in some wards, voting did not take place at all, but they recorded numbers for them.”
He added, “All these kinds of misconduct are not good at this stage of our democracy in Nigeria and something has to be done about it. We are going to write serious petitions against all these things that took place.”
Similarly, Alkali boycotted the Gombe APC governorship primary over alleged irregularities but eventually lost to Jamilu Gwamna. His aide later clarified, “He is still in the race; he only boycotted the primaries.”
In Bauchi, supporters of Tuggar threatened to abandon the APC if a governorship candidate was imposed on the party. Ibrahim Malam, speaking on behalf of the movement supporting Tuggar, said, “We cannot support a party where democracy is not being practised.”
Social media influencer Bello Adamu, also known as Elder Karofi, rejected the alleged consensus arrangement, saying, “We reject this imposition and I don’t think any one of us is going to support anybody if that happens.”