• Party leaders protest alleged substitution of Kogi West Senate candidate
• First-term governors meet in Kebbi, back ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ beyond 2027
• Obidients accuse Borno ex-gov of dodging questions on Tinubu’s alleged tribal politics

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has pleaded with aspirants, whose names have been substituted after the primary election, not to contemplate litigation, describing such a move as tantamount to sabotage.
 
This was as party stalwarts in Kogi West Senatorial District petitioned the National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, alleging the illegal substitution of the winner of the senatorial primary, Samuel Aro, with Senator Sunday Karimi.
 
Also, first-term governors elected under the APC have declared support for Tinubu’s economic reforms, endorsing the continuation of the Renewed Hope Agenda beyond the 2027 general elections.
 
Meanwhile, the Obidient Movement has attacked former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, accusing him of abandoning a substantive debate on Nigeria’s worsening insecurity and economic crisis in favour of “tribal fear-mongering” and political diversion.
  
The party declared that “there is nothing unusual about replacing the name of a candidate, when it is discovered that something was not done properly,” stressing that justice demands that such anomalies should be corrected.
 
According to the party’s Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, who made the assertion while speaking on a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) programme, APC resorted to the replacement of many candidates after the party primaries to address various identified shortcomings.   
 
He noted, however, that the party followed laid-down procedures to correct irregularities identified during the candidate selection process, adding that not less than 2,500 aspirants who bought the nomination forms for different offices were screened by the party.
 
Prominent leaders of the party confirmed to The Guardian that President Tinubu’s name would be forwarded alongside that of the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, and that the proposed reconciliation would continue to reach out to various candidates pending the close of the substitution window.

THE petition, signed on behalf of the Kogi West Zonal Chairman, Emmanuel Aledare; the APC Deputy State Chairman, Aliyu Salihu; and the State Youth Leader, Buhari Lokoja, described the reported replacement as illegal and capable of undermining party unity ahead of the 2027 general elections.
 
The petitioners said party executives at the ward, local council, zonal and state levels had, months before the primary election, passed votes of no confidence in Karimi, citing concerns over his suitability and alignment with the party’s objectives in the district.

They maintained that the APC senatorial primary election was conducted validly and that Aro emerged as the winner, adding that the result was confirmed by the party’s electoral committee and remained the only valid outcome after the expiration of the appeal period.
 
According to the petition, Karimi neither challenged the outcome of the primary through the party’s internal appeal process nor obtained any court judgment nullifying Aro’s victory.
 
The petitioners argued that any subsequent substitution of Aro’s candidacy would violate the Electoral Act, the APC Constitution and Guidelines, as well as the wishes of party faithful who participated in the primary election.
 
They dismissed reports that Aro had voluntarily withdrawn from the race, insisting that he neither completed nor submitted any withdrawal form as required by law.

THE first-term governors’ declaration was announced yesterday by the Governor of Kebbi State, Nasir Idris, who presented a communiqué on behalf of the forum following its meeting in Birnin Kebbi.
 
Governor Idris stated that the communiqué reflected the governors’ collective commitment to patriotism, accountability, national service and the promotion of long-term national stability.
 
While acknowledging the difficult economic realities facing the nation, Idris praised the resilience of Nigerians, noting that families, workers, farmers, traders, transporters, youth and women “have borne the brunt of these necessary adjustments”.
 
However, the forum maintained that the Federal Government’s present policies were vital to rectifying decades of accumulated fiscal, security and developmental deficits.

IN a statement issued yesterday, the Obidient Movement said Sheriff’s comments during an interview on Channels Television amounted to an attempt to shift attention from what it called the “catastrophic failure” of President Tinubu’s administration.
 
According to the group, Sheriff failed to directly address questions on the country’s worsening security situation and economic hardship, choosing instead to revive discussions around the Nigerian Civil War and make comments about Peter Obi.
 
It described the interview as evidence that defenders of the Tinubu administration have run out of convincing arguments on governance and now rely on ethnic and regional narratives whenever confronted with questions about the economy and insecurity.
 
“It is hunger. It is insecurity. It is economic collapse,” the movement declared, insisting that these—not ethnicity or the Civil War—are the issues Nigerians expect political leaders to confront.
 
The movement also rejected Sheriff’s assertion that Northerners would never vote for Obi in a future presidential election, arguing that such claims underestimate Northern voters and reduce electoral choices to ethnic considerations.
 
Defending Obi’s record, the group said the former governor of Anambra State consistently promoted national unity through investment and economic inclusion across different regions of the country. It pointed to Obi’s support for businesses in Northern Nigeria and his repeated advocacy for unlocking the region’s vast agricultural potential as evidence of his commitment to building an inclusive economy.