The All Progressives Congress (APC) has raked in over ₦4.45 billion from the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The ruling party raised the money from the sale of forms to two presidential aspirants, over 83 governorship aspirants in 28 states, and National Assembly and state House of Assembly aspirants.
The APC earned ₦200m from the sale of presidential nomination forms to President Bola Tinubu and Stanley Osifo.
The party sold its governorship forms at ₦50m, Senate forms at ₦20m and House of Representatives forms at ₦10m.
The revenue has also bolstered the APC’s financial position going into the polls, even as opposition parties struggle to come together as one.
PGF Crisis Worsens
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 received the backing of 18 of the 31 APC governors in a massive show of support.
The forum had reportedly on Thursday removed Uzodimma, with plans to replace him with the Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah.
There were also reports 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 expressed support for Uzodimma’s leadership.
Speaking after the meeting, Kebbi State Governor, Nasir Idris said: “We don’t have any problem to justify what they have said. So I want to look for this opportunity to move a vote of confidence on our chairman and his Deputy.”
Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, also denied reports of division in the forum.
“What I can say here is that we all woke up to that very unfortunate story that we have virtually in all the media in Nigeria. But the fact is that the APC Progressive Governors Forum is very united.
“We’re stronger now than ever. And of course we all support our President on what he has been doing.
We also want to assure everybody that APC is united, governors are united, the forum is united, and there is no problem at all.
Among the governors at the meeting were those of Ondo, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ebonyi, Borno, Lagos, Kogi, Kano, Yobe, Kebbi and Benue states.
The governor of Taraba State was briefly in attendance, leaving after a short meeting with the host, while the deputy governors represented Jigawa and Nasarawa states.
In moving the vote of confidence, Idris declared Uzodimma and Sani to remain chairman and deputy chairman of the forum respectively.
Uzodimma also dismissed speculations of disunity in the APC, saying the forum was focused on the party’s forthcoming primaries.
“All the governors of the Progressive Congress are united and resolved to support Mr. President and ensure that he comes out successfully during the upcoming elections by January 2027,” he said.
“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 actually is a matter of fact the resolution will have come up with this afternoon.”
APC Kicks Off Aspirants Screening
Meanwhile, the ruling party on Friday began the screening of governorship, Senate and House of Representatives aspirants ahead of its primaries.
The APC has scheduled the House of Representatives primaries for May 15, the Senate for May 18 and the governorship primary for May 21, 2026.
The party also constituted two committees to screen incumbent governors seeking re-election and governorship aspirants.
The APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, headed the committee that screened the incumbent governors who are seeking re-election. The party’s National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, was the secretary.
The screening of incumbent governors would hold at the Plateau Governors’ Lodge, Abuja, while other governorship aspirants would be screened separately.
Another committee for other governorship aspirants was chaired by Dr Ben Nwoye, while Emeka Offor acted as secretary.
