Prominent figures within the All Progressives Congress (APC) have reacted with mixed feelings over automatic tickets for the party’s National Assembly members ahead of the 2027 general election.
It was learnt that some APC governors revolted against the automatic ticket plan and may have been scheming to kill the arrangement at its earliest stage.
A governor from the South East and his counterpart from the South West are said to be leading the park geared towards stopping automatic tickets for National Assembly members in their states.
The governors might discuss the issue with the APC national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, in Abuja shortly after the Sallah celebration.
It was further gathered that while some governors are indifferent to the offer, others are said to be cautious about opposing it because it enjoys the president’s backing.
The chairman of the APC governors and Imo State governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, told LEADERSHIP yesterday that he will abide by the party’s position on the matter.
The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Hon. Oguwike Nwachuku, stressed that Uzodimma, as a loyal party man, “will follow the party’s decision in respect of automatic ticket to lawmakers.”
He, however, underscored that he spoke for Uzodimma and not for other APC governors.
Attempts to get the APC national publicity secretary, Felix Morka, to react to the issue were unsuccessful, as calls and messages sent to him were not replied to.
LEADERSHIP had exclusively reported plans from the Villa to offer APC lawmakers automatic tickets ahead of the 2027 election. The offer was to ensure stability within the party and reduce the likelihood of legal issues that would arise while conducting the party’s primaries.
However, the APC national chairman, Ganduje, at the gathering of party leaders from the North Central geopolitical zone, where they endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term, said,
“We should continue to thank our legislators for their support… why are we having high turnover of our legislators after four years? Can that encourage institutional memory? If we cannot do it by law, we can do it by advocacy.
“So, it is the responsibility of the party to dialogue with the leadership of the National Assembly so that those legislators who are very active, who are movers, to see how they can come back,” he said.
However, a source within the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), who pleaded anonymity, told LEADERSHIP that two South West governors do not support stopping automatic tickets for National Assembly members.
At a gathering shortly after the APC summit, which endorsed Tinubu for a second term at the Villa, the governors told some of their colleagues that the President decided to give automatic tickets to the National Assembly members and should not be challenged by any governor.
“Most of the governors are adamant. They are even threatening a showdown over this. A governor from the South West and the South East is pushing this agenda. They have successfully recruited a few APC governors, especially those who inherited elected lawmakers and became governors through off-season polls, into their agenda.
“But two other South West governors made it clear that they are not part of the agenda. They feared that since the President’s decision to give automatic tickets to National Assembly members may have come for strategic reasons, the governors should refrain from challenging it,” the source revealed.
According to sources within the ruling party, the move to grant automatic tickets to the President and National Assembly members is seen as part of the President’s firm grip on party structures nationwide and to forestall situations whereby rookies dominate the National Assembly and create trouble.
It was learnt that the automatic ticket idea was designed to prevent possible litigation and loopholes that aggrieved members could use to stifle the party’s preparations for the 2027 election cycle.
A party source added that the idea was behind the recent defection of former opposition lawmakers in the National Assembly to the ruling APC.
Meanwhile, ripples of automatic tickets are beginning to emerge, as an APC chieftain in Ondo State and an ex-Niger Delta agitator have threatened to fund opposition platforms if the President insists on granting automatic tickets to National Assembly members in the state.
At the weekend, it was gathered that the party chieftain vowed to sponsor candidates against the senator and House of Representatives member from his federal constituency if the idea of an automatic ticket was not jettisoned.
