Tinubu Secures APC 2027 Presidential Ticket With 10.99m Votes

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has secured the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket for the 2027 general elections, defeating his sole challenger, Stanley Osifo, in a landslide victory during the party’s direct primary elections.

Tinubu polled a staggering 10,999,162 votes across the country’s 8,809 wards, reaffirming his grip on the ruling party’s structure ahead of his re-election bid. Osifo, a businessman and politician who previously ran for the presidency under the Alliance for Social Democrats (ASD) in 2019 before joining the APC, managed to secure 16,504 votes.

The official results emerged from the national collation center at the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja. The national collation process was overseen by the APC Presidential Primary Election Committee, chaired by former Senate President Pius Anyim.

The direct primary format—which allows all registered financial members of the party to vote, rather than just selected delegates—saw an extensive turnout nationwide.

APC governors from 31 states, alongside top party stalwarts acting as state coordinators and collation officers, presented their respective state results to the national committee.

Gboyega Oyetola, Minister of Blue Economy presented the outcome of elections in Osun State, Senator Tesilim Folarin stood in for Oyo state, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu presented Abia state results while Senator Uche Ekwunife handed down the outcome in Anambra state and Prof. Ali Pate, the Minister of Health gave account of election proceedings I’m Bauchi State.

President Tinubu dominated the polls in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), capturing 100 percent of the cast votes in several states. Despite the lopsided outcome, Osifo managed to register noticeable numbers in a few key states, including, Niger, Kano, Lagos, Bauchi and Abia.

The results also showed that Stanley recorded no vote in 21 states, with only one vote from his home state, Edo State, where he was believed to have voted for himself.

At about 4:09 pm President Tinubu and his wife Senator Oluremi Tinubu were heralded into the collation with a music rendition by the military band to the waiting hands of party leaders and chieftain.

Stanley had earlier arrived the collation center ahead of during the collation exercise.

At about 4:28 pm, the Chairman of the Presidential Primary Election Committee, Senator Anyim declared the winner of the Saturday May 23 presidential shadow election.

Anyim noted that the party membership stands at 12,643,316 while 11,069,756 were accredited for the direct presidential shadow polls and 11,015,665 voted in the 8,809 wards in 774 local government areas of the country.

“It is my pleasure to announce the results with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu polling 10,999,162 votes and the challenger Osifo Stanley scored 16,503 votes.,”  Anyim declared.

At about 4:50 pm. APC National Chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda led other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) to present Tinubu with the Certificate of Returns and the party’s flag, having been returned as the standard bearer of the party in 2027 general elections.

The collation exercise which lasted for about 2 hours saw all the state coordinators presenting the outcome of the exercise in their respective states to the Senator Anyim Pius Anyim-led 7-man Presidential Primary Election Committee at Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Center, Abuja.

No sooner the President who was in high mood delivered his acceptance speech that party leaders and faithful went in wild jubilation and singing the mandate anthem to express their joy.

We Have Deepened Internal Democracy —Yilwatda

Earlier, APC National Chairman, Professor Yilwatda, stated that the ruling party has successfully deepened its internal democracy through the transparent conduct of its nationwide presidential primary elections.

He noted that the party’s presidential primary served as the grand finale of a comprehensive internal electoral cycle.

“We started with the primary election from the House of Assembly, the National Assembly, governorship, and we climax with that of the President,” Yilwatda stated.

He clarified that only two aspirants—the incumbent President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Honorable Stanley Osifo—contested the party’s 2027 presidential ticket.

Detailing the timeline of the direct primary process, the National Chairman confirmed that accreditation and voting took place at the ward level nationwide on Friday, followed by local government and state-level collation.

To ensure complete public trust, the ruling party broadcasted the final national collation exercise live across multiple television stations and online streaming platforms. Yilwatda noted that this was done to showcase the party’s integrity to the global community.

“Because of ensuring that we also have a transparent system, I give the world what is happening in APC and our government, and what we are doing to ensure that we deepen internal democracy within our party. We decided to make this program live,” he said.

Addressing the friction that arose during the high-stakes exercise, Yilwatda revealed that representatives of both President Tinubu and  Osifo raised concerns over some of the collated figures. However, he praised the mature manner in which the disputes were handled.

“There have been challenges to the results. It shows that APC is open when challenges arise, and mistakes were made. Corrections were done based on the suggestion of the two representatives of the two aspirants, and I am happy that this collation has gone smoothly with mutual respect,” the Chairman noted.

Before stepping down from the podium, Yilwatda expressed appreciation to the APC governors and state coordinators who served as returning officers without financial burden to the party, describing their efforts as a “sacrifice to the nation and to the party.”

He further commended the Presidential Primary Election Committee, led by former Senate President Senator Pius Anyim, for coordinating a seamless transition process.

“As a committee, you have done very well in terms of coordination. You have made my job very easy. Let me invite the Chairman of the committee, His Excellency Senator Pius Anyim, to come and take over and declare the winner of this very presidential election,” Yilwatda concluded.

…..Direct primary ensures inclusivity  – Anyim

Justifying the adoption of direct primary, the Chairman of the election committee, Senator Anyim, in his opening remarks said the mode was to ensure inclusivity and to deepen democratic participation.

Praising the party’s decision, the former Senate President said the mode has dismantled the seemingly intractable obstacles hindering the much-desired electoral reforms in Nigeria today.

“The mode of this election is the direct primary system. The model is not only an effort to select candidates for the 2027 elections but, more importantly, to give effect to the long-standing call for electoral reforms, which culminated in fundamental amendments to the Electoral Act.

“By this groundbreaking model, the APC has become the first political party to adopt the direct primary election model for its presidential primary election. The central intent of the APC in adopting the direct primary model includes to deepen democratic participation, ensure inclusivity, and expand the political space.

“The essentials of the direct primary model include provision of opportunity for all members of the party to participate in the process; foreclosing the vote associated with delegate elections; offering transparency, as against secret ballot; and enhancing the confidence of each voter that their vote counts.

“These are the core values the APC not only seeks to promote but also to inculcate in our electoral system. Permit me to pay tribute to Mr President whose leadership of the party has become a compass that has guided the party this far.

“Mr President: you are swift to act, legendary in vision and catalytic in prosecuting reforms. By this singular act of adopting the direct primary election, you have dismantled the seemingly intractable obstacles hindering the much-desired electoral reforms in Nigeria today.

“You are not only a force behind the direct primary model of the APC, you are also answering the call for electoral transparency and democratic stability in Nigeria,” Anyim said.

The epoch making ceremony which had Centenarian Alhaji Tanko Yakassi, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, his Deputy, Senator Jibrin Barau, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, his Deputy, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu and other federal lawmakers.

All the governors under the platform of Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), members of Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda-led National Working Committee (NWC), party state chairmen, leaders of various support groups, members of diplomatic corps and representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were at hand to monitor the collation of results from the states.

It will be recalled that various organs of the party from the National Executive Committee (NEC) to the NWC, the Progressive Governors’ Forum and the National Summit of the party had endorsed President Tinubu for the party’s ticket for 2027 general elections since last year.

Results as collated

The Nation