A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress APC, Senator Abubakar Yusuf, has cautioned President Bola Tinubu against relying heavily on support from APC governors ahead of the 2027 general election.
He argued that several governors defecting to the APC lack genuine grassroots popularity among voters.
The lawmaker also warned of potential internal crises within the ruling party, particularly if its primary elections are not conducted in a free and fair manner.
Speaking on Channels Television, Yusuf suggested that the APC’s chances in the 2027 presidential election may be influenced more by the weakness of the opposition than by the performance of the current administration.
“I would want to say APC will win the 2027 presidential election not because the government of Asiwaju Tinubu has performed but because there is no opposition.
“Number one, there is no challenge from the opposition. Individually, they are very, very credible captains, but as a team, I don’t see that team working together for the success of the opposition.
“So Tinubu will likely win, more likely win the 2027 election. We are not jittery at all. Because, I mean, we don’t have a challenge. Who is challenging us, nobody. So if they now say, okay, Nigerians will challenge us, fine.
“If Nigerians will challenge us between now and the day of election, a lot of things will come on the limelight to make sure that whatever little wrongs that have happened, left, right and center will be adjusted.
“What APC will be worried about is intra party crisis, because there might be, if care is not taken, implosions. What are the implosions? If they insist on automatic ticket, then they are going to lose a lot of people to other political parties.
“What if they allow free and fair primaries? Come and test your popularity unlike what the governors want, then there will be a problem.
“There will be implosions, no doubt about it, if they refuse to allow a free and fair election. You see, we have APC on one side, we have Renewed Hope Organization on one side, and then we have governors on another side, City Boys as well.
“Then we have, you know, the Nigerian citizens. So there’s bound to be a lot of a bunch of contradictions here, if the system or Mr President as the leader of the political party, they must allow free and fair election.
“There would be no surprises. What I’m saying is that Mr President must stand firm and not rely on the governors. There are so many of these governors that are not popular,” he said.
