Tinubu Engages Reps, Rejects Automatic Senate Tickets

On Friday, President Bola Tinubu held a closed-door meeting with Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abass and other lawmakers at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. This meeting, which was not part of the President's official schedule, occurred shortly after the lawmakers attended Jummah prayers.

The discussions' details were not disclosed at the time, but sources indicated that it was part of ongoing strategic engagements with federal lawmakers ahead of the 2027 general elections. Tinubu recently rejected calls for automatic Senate tickets, opting instead to empower state executives to oversee the party's primary processes.

Niger State Governor Moham Bago confirmed that Tinubu directed governors to manage the primaries in line with the Electoral Act. The APC has scheduled its House of Representatives primaries for May 15, 2026, with nomination forms expected to be available starting Saturday.

This sequence of meetings signals early negotiations regarding power balance within the APC as the party prepares for a highly competitive electoral cycle in 2027.