President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, receive former Senate President and Chairman of APC Presidential Primary Elections Committee, Anyim Pius Anyim, for im Ikoyi residence for Lagos. Dis visit come barely 48 hours after Anyim preside over di primary elections wey return Tinubu as di ruling party candidate for 2027 general election.
According to photographs wey State House release, di President hold separate meetings with Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, and Cross River State Governor Bassey Otu. Abiodun, wey emerge as APC candidate for Ogun East Senatorial District, commend Tinubu for im inclusive democratic policies, especially im insistence on direct primaries, wey allow party members to freely exercise dem franchise.
But SDP presidential candidate Adewole Adebayo come hard on Tinubu over di prevailing insecurity for di country. Adebayo, after closed-door meeting with Governor Seyi Makinde for Ibadan, advise Tinubu to resign if e lack di capacity to protect Nigerians. E accuse di Federal Government of failing in its constitutional responsibility to safeguard lives and property, describing di situation for Oyo as part of wider national security crisis.
Meanwhile, Tinubu poll 10,999,160 votes for di just-concluded APC presidential primary, comfortably surpassing di 8,794,726 votes e secure for 2023 general election. Dis outcome trigger fresh scrutiny of APC internal membership strength and di quality of its register. State-by-state breakdown show strongest gains for south-east and parts of south-south, where Tinubu perform poorly for 2023. For Lagos, im political base, Tinubu show robust recovery from 572,606 votes for 2023 to 814,988 for di recent primary.
Party officials describe di high turnout as evidence of successful membership registration drives and unwavering loyalty to Tinubu within APC. But critics point to longstanding concerns about bloated party registers and limited independent scrutiny during primaries. Di data paint picture of party wey consolidate control of its internal machinery but still face harder task of translating dat strength into national electoral victory due to some unpopular decisions and reforms wey Tinubu introduce for im first four years.
