The All Progressives Congress (APC) has realised over ₦4.45 billion from the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The ruling party generated the sum from the sale of forms to two presidential aspirants, over 83 governorship aspirants across 28 states, as well as National Assembly and state House of Assembly aspirants.
The APC realised ₦200m from the sale of presidential nomination forms to President Bola Tinubu and Stanley Osifo.
The party sold its governorship forms for ₦50m, Senate forms for ₦20m and House of Representatives forms for ₦10m.
The revenue has further strengthened the APC’s financial position ahead of the polls, even as opposition parties struggle to present a united front.
PGF Crisis Deepens
The development came as the crisis within the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) deepened on Friday, with the forum’s chairman and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, fighting back against opposition within the group.
Uzodimma secured a vote of confidence from 18 APC governors out of 31 in a major show of support.
The forum had reportedly removed Uzodimma on Thursday, with plans to replace him with Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah.
Reports also indicated that another group within the forum was being led by Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
After a closed-door meeting in Abuja on Friday, 18 APC governors declared support for Uzodimma’s leadership.
Kebbi State Governor, Nasir Idris, who spoke after the meeting, said, “We don’t have any problem to justify what they have said. So, I want to seek this opportunity to move a vote of confidence on our chairman and his Deputy.”
Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, also dismissed reports of division in the forum.
He said, “What I can say here is that all of us woke up with that very unfortunate story that we have virtually in all the media in Nigeria. But the truth of the matter is that the APC Progressive Governors Forum is very united.
“We’re stronger now than any other time. And of course, we are all supporting our President for what he has been doing.
“We also want to assure everyone that APC is united, governors are united, the forum is united, and there is no problem at all.”
Governors present at the meeting included those of Ondo, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ebonyi, Borno, Lagos, Kogi, Kano, Yobe, Kebbi and Benue states.
The Taraba State governor attended briefly before leaving after a short meeting with the host, while Jigawa and Nasarawa states were represented by their deputy governors.
Moving the vote of confidence, Idris declared that Uzodimma and Sani remained chairman and deputy chairman of the forum, respectively.
Uzodimma also dismissed speculation of disunity in the APC, saying the forum was focused on the party’s coming primaries.
He said, “Governors of Progressive Congress are all united and resolved to support Mr. President and to ensure that he comes out successfully during the upcoming elections by January 2027.
“So we have decided to work harder, look after our people, show performance and provide all the necessary social interventions that make Nigerians happy and that is actually a matter of fact the resolution will have come up with this afternoon.”
APC Begins Aspirants’ Screening
Meanwhile, the ruling party on Friday commenced the screening of governorship, Senate and House of Representatives aspirants ahead of its primaries.
The APC fixed the House of Representatives primaries for May 15, the Senate primaries for May 18 and the governorship primary for May 21, 2026.
The party also set up two committees to screen incumbent governors seeking re-election and governorship aspirants.
The APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, chaired the committee screening incumbent governors seeking re-election, while the party’s National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, served as secretary.
The screening of incumbent governors was scheduled to be held at the Plateau Governors’ Lodge, Abuja, while other governorship aspirants were to be screened separately.
A second committee for other governorship aspirants was chaired by Dr Ben Nwoye, with Emeka Offor serving as secretary.
