By Amah
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A fresh wave of uncertainty is sweeping through Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, following its categorical rejection of automatic tickets for serving members of the National Assembly ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The move is already stirring quiet discontent and raising fears of a potential defection crisis within its ranks.
The party’s National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, made the position clear during a media briefing in Abuja, where he dismissed growing speculation that incumbent lawmakers would be granted seamless returns without facing party primaries. His remarks have effectively reset the political calculations of senators and House of Representatives members who had hoped to leverage incumbency into guaranteed tickets.
“There is no automatic ticket in our constitution. The party cannot promise automatic ticket to anyone,” Yilwatda said, underscoring what appears to be a deliberate shift by the APC toward stricter internal democracy, even at the risk of unsettling its own power base.
The development comes against the backdrop of Nigeria’s long-standing intra-party struggles, where the question of how to balance reward for loyalty with fairness in candidate selection has often proved contentious. While automatic tickets have never been formally enshrined in law, they have, over time, become a political convenience, used quietly to protect incumbents, avoid bruising primaries, and maintain fragile unity. The APC’s decision to shut that door publicly signals a break from that tradition.
Yilwatda anchored the party’s stance on both its constitution and the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, noting that the law mandates that candidates must emerge through either consensus or primary elections. In effect, every aspirant, regardless of status, must test their popularity and acceptance within the party structure.
For APC lawmakers, the implications are immediate and profound. Without the cushion of automatic tickets, incumbents now face the real prospect of intense primary battles against ambitious challengers, many of whom may be backed by influential state actors or shifting political alliances. The advantage of incumbency, once seen as a near-guarantee of return, is now significantly diluted.
More critically, the development introduces a new layer of political insecurity. Lawmakers who perceive the primaries as hostile or manipulated may begin to explore alternative platforms long before the election cycle peaks.
Nigeria’s political landscape is replete with precedents where such internal party decisions have triggered waves of defections, often altering the balance of power in both the legislature and the broader electoral map.
Already, there are murmurs within political circles that opposition parties are closely monitoring the situation, ready to open their doors to aggrieved APC members who may feel edged out of the ticket race. In a system where political survival often trumps party loyalty, the absence of guaranteed tickets could prove to be a decisive fault line.
While the APC leadership appears intent on projecting a commitment to fairness and due process, the political cost of that stance remains uncertain. Enforcing internal democracy in theory strengthens the party’s institutional credibility; in practice, it risks igniting internal rivalries, factional disputes, and strategic exits that could weaken its cohesion ahead of a crucial election cycle.
Yilwatda, however, insists that performance will ultimately determine outcomes, placing the burden on lawmakers to justify their return to constituents and party members. It is a position that resonates with democratic ideals but also exposes incumbents to the unpredictable dynamics of grassroots politics.
As the countdown to 2027 gradually begins, the APC now faces a delicate balancing act, managing the expectations of its lawmakers while maintaining the integrity of its processes. Whether this decision will deepen the party’s democratic culture or fracture its ranks remains to be seen, but one reality is already clear: for many APC legislators, the road back to the National Assembly is no longer guaranteed, and the search for political survival options may have quietly begun.
