The All Progressives Congress (APC) has raked in over N4.45 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 sales of forms to two presidential aspirants, over 83 governorship aspirants in 28 states, National Assembly and state House of Assembly aspirants.
The APC made ₦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 also strengthened the APC’s coffers in the run-up to the polls even as opposition parties have failed to rally as one.
PGF Crisis Worsens
The development came amid a deepening crisis within the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) on Friday with the forum’s chairman and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, fighting back against opposition within the group.
In a massive show of support, Uzodimma got a vote of confidence from 18 APC governors out of 31.
It was reported that the forum on Thursday had removed Uzodimma and was to replace him with Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah.
There were also reports that another group within the forum was under the leadership of Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
After a closed-door meeting in Abuja on Friday, 18 APC governors expressed their 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 look for this opportunity to move a vote of confidence on our chairman and his Deputy.
The Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, also dismissed the reports of division in the forum.
“What I can say here is that we all woke up with that very unfortunate story that we have virtually in all the media in Nigeria. But the truth is that the APC Progressive Governors Forum is very united.
“We’re stronger than ever. And of course, we all are supporting our President for what he has been doing.
We also want to assure everybody that APC is united, the governors are united, the forum is united, we don’t have any problem at all.
The governors present at the meeting are those of Ondo, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ebonyi, Borno, Lagos, Kogi, Kano, Yobe, Kebbi and Benue states.
The governor of Taraba State was in attendance briefly, leaving after a short meeting with the host, while the deputy governors represented Jigawa and Nasarawa states.
Idris, in moving the vote of confidence, declared Uzodimma and Sani to remain 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 forthcoming primaries.
“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,” 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 Begins Screening of Aspirants
Meanwhile, the ruling party on Friday started the screening of governorship, Senate and House of Representatives aspirants ahead of its primaries.
The APC has slated the primaries for the House of Representatives for May 15, Senate for May 18 and the governorship primary for May 21, 2026.
The party also established two committees to screen incumbent governors seeking re-election and governorship aspirants.
The APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, led the committee that screened the incumbent governors seeking re-election. The party’s National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, was the secretary.
The screening of incumbent governors will hold at the Plateau Governors’ Lodge, Abuja, while other governorship aspirants will be screened separately.
Dr Ben Nwoye chaired another committee for other governorship aspirants, while Emeka Offor served as secretary.
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