There is palpable tension and anxiety in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), following the bombshell by the National Chairman of the party, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda that shuts the door on serving lawmakers hoping for an automatic return ticket for 2027.
Professor Yilwatda, who announced the position of the national leadership of the APC during a media chat in Abuja on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, pointedly declared that no sitting member of the National Assembly will be handed a free pass ahead of future elections.
Yilwatda said; “There is no automatic ticket in our constitution. The party cannot promise an automatic ticket.
The party’s constitution and the Electoral Act do not support such.
“Candidates must emerge either through consensus or direct primaries. The constitution of the party does not provide for automatic tickets… The Electoral Act also does not provide for automatic ticket,” he stated.
Yilwatda also said that performance would now be the ultimate test, adding that the people and party members will judge those who have performed very well and are eligible for re-election.
The Party’s national leadership resolve has sent jitters into the political spines of the legislators on the platform of the APC, particularly those that defected to the ruling party from other opposition political parties.
The development has suddenly turned the mood of most of the lawmakers into frenzy as their political calculations for automatic party tickets seems dashed and now thinking of the next option which looks too late in the day owing to the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 which they were teleguided to pass in the interest of the APC and the presidency.
The new position of the party which took the lawmakers by surprise despite their closeness with the leadership of the party and anticipation of political rewards, has completely cast uncertainty in the aspirations of the serving lawmakers.
However, on the other hand, members of the party that have positioned themselves long before some of the serving lawmakers defected to the party are in joyous mood with the hope of defeating their opponents at party primary against the backdrop of the fact that majority of the lawmakers have lost touch with their constituents who are waiting in the wing for pay back time.
The serving lawmakers may now be forced to go back to their constituencies to meet with stakeholders and king makers that they have long abandoned based on their understanding that they were going to benefit from automatic ticket.
Before the latest position of the leadership of the Party, some aspirants who have been in the trenches, had lost confidence in the party and were thinking of other options, but with the new resolve of the party, the room has been further widened for more participation through party primaries which they hope will produce candidates for the party ahead of 2027.
Party insiders are of the strong view that beyond legality, deeper political calculations from above may be at play just as in many constituencies, there are agitation for rotation of offices among different blocs.
The development has therefore put a wedge on automatic tickets as it is considered risky against the backdrop of emerging opposition that was not envisaged.
