APC submits Tinubu, Shettima nomination forms ahead of INEC deadline
The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, has declared that the ruling party is unfazed by opposition campaigns ahead of the 2027 general election, insisting that President Bola Tinubu enters the presidential race with the backing of more than 12 million party members.
Yilwatda spoke on Friday in Abuja while receiving the completed Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) presidential nomination forms of President Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima.
The submission of the forms brought to an end months of speculation over Tinubu’s choice of running mate, confirming that Shettima will remain on the ticket for the 2027 presidential election.
The forms were presented on behalf of the president by his Special Adviser on Political and Other Matters, Ibrahim Masari, ahead of INEC’s Saturday deadline for political parties to upload the names of their candidates to the commission’s nomination portal.
The ceremony was attended by APC governors led by the chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum and Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma, as well as deputy governors, members of the National Working Committee, APC lawmakers, members of the Federal Executive Council, governorship and senatorial candidates, and other party stakeholders.
Yilwatda said the occasion marked the culmination of the party’s internal democratic process, which began with primary elections for state assemblies, the National Assembly, governorships and the presidency.
“Today is a reflection of the wishes of over 12 million of our members of APC who overwhelmingly voted Mr President as their candidate to fly the party’s flag in the 2027 presidential election,” he said.
He argued that the administration’s programmes had broadened the president’s support base, citing more than 1.5 million beneficiaries of the federal student loan scheme and their families, communities benefiting from road infrastructure across the six geopolitical zones, and farmers receiving fertiliser support in states including Borno and Niger.
Yilwatda urged APC governors and supporters to intensify efforts to publicise the achievements of the Tinubu administration, saying claims about government projects had been independently verified in his own community.
He asked Masari to convey to the president the party’s confidence that its members would deliver overwhelming support at the polls, expressing optimism that the APC would record its strongest electoral performance across the country’s geopolitical zones.
“We are not afraid, we are not in doubt of our success. There is no shaking at all in any way. Come 2027, our victory as a party is assured and assured,” Yilwatda said.