• Trump ups interest in 2027 election
• With Amaechi as VP candidate, ADC risks legal setback, forum warns

Fresh concerns have arisen within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the party’s choice of running mate for President Bola Tinubu for next year’s presidential election, even as the party’s revised list of nominated candidates for the National Assembly continues to raise dust.

A member of the United States House of Representatives, Riley Moore, said the administration of President Donald Trump will closely monitor how Nigeria conducts its 2027 general elections.

Also, the Southern Political Progressives Amalgamation Forum (SPPAF) has warned the African Democratic Congress (ADC) against adopting former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, as a vice presidential candidate, arguing that such a move could expose the party’s 2027 presidential ticket to pre-election litigation.

APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, had explained that the party’s decision to vary the list of successful candidates from the party’s primary followed the laid-down regulations of the party.

He remarked that the substitutions were necessitated by a plethora of complaints and petitions against the conduct of the primary, noting that the party received more than 700 petitions after the April primaries, ranging from complaints against manipulations and disenfranchisement.

“The appeal committee’s recommendations had been reviewed and adopted by the national Working Committee (NWC) as the party’s final decision on the affected constituencies. The changes were made in compliance with the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended) and INEC’s regulations and guidelines.”

The National Publicity Secretary asserted that the party’s priority assignment was to ensure that all successful candidates completed and returned the required nomination forms for upload to the INEC Candidate Nomination Portal before the commission’s deadline.

“The appeal process had been concluded and the candidates completing INEC documentation represent the APC’s final list,” Morka stated, even as the party kept sealed lips over whether President Tinubu was retaining Senator Kashim Shettima on the presidential ballot.

But, the statement by a West Virgnia representative in the House of Congress, Riley Moore, that the U.S. would be paying close attention to next year’s election threw up fresh anxieties in the ruling APC.

Moore was among the U.S. lawmakers that moved for the designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), contending that the country does not guarantee religious freedom to its citizens.

The American lawmakers pointed to the same faith presidential ticket as evidence of Muslim domination of the Christians in a country split slightly equally between the two religious faiths, thus raising the fears that the APC may pick a Christian running mate for Tinubu for the 2027 poll.

Attempts by The Guardian to get confirmation about Tinubu’s running mate could not yield positive results, but a former member of the 8th Senate told the correspondent that “only Tinubu knows who would ultimately be his running mate for the January 18 presidential contest.”

SPPAF said any joint ticket involving former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate and Amaechi as his running mate could face legal challenges capable of undermining the opposition’s electoral prospects.

The Convener, Fidel Anga, in a statement yesterday, urged the National Executive Committee (NEC) and NWC of ADC to avoid political arrangements that could expose the party to avoidable legal disputes ahead of the 2027 general election.

The forum cited the 2020 Supreme Court judgment that nullified the election of former Bayelsa State governor-elect, David Lyon, over issues relating to the qualifications of his running mate, arguing that the case illustrated how legal disputes involving one member of a joint ticket could affect the entire candidature.

According to the group, the Rivers State Judicial Commission of Inquiry and the White Paper issued by the Rivers Government on Amaechi’s administration could provide grounds for political opponents to institute pre-election suits if he emerges as a vice-presidential candidate.

Amaechi has consistently denied allegations of wrongdoing during his tenure as governor of Rivers, and no court has convicted him in relation to the allegations referenced by the group.

But the forum alleged that an Atiku-Amaechi ticket would be vulnerable to legal challenges.