By Our Correspondents
For nearly two hours on Thursday evening, President Bola Tinubu sat with the 32 governors elected under the banner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a tightly guarded session at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.
What began as a routine briefing on the revised primary timetable quickly descended into raw political negotiations that could determine the shape of the 2027 ballot.
Multiple sources who were inside the President’s Conference Room, where the meeting was eventually relocated from the Council Chamber, told Spear News Nigeria that Tinubu dispensed with pleasantries early.
He had two clear messages: first, there would be no handpicked candidates from the Presidency; second, anyone who breaks the party through indiscipline would face consequences regardless of their current rank.
The direct primary threat that changed the room
The most striking revelation from the closed session, according to two officials who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the press, was how Tinubu wielded the direct primary option as both a carrot and a stick.
Contrary to public speculation that the President favoured consensus across all states, Tinubu reportedly told the governors that he would not impose consensus on any state where stakeholders could not agree. But he added a warning: where a governor insists on consensus while genuine aspirants cry foul, the National Working Committee (NWC) would have no choice but to invoke direct primaries.
Some of the sources at the meeting described the moment as a turning point.
This approach, political analysts say, allows Tinubu to maintain a distance from the bruising internal battles that will unfold across the 36 states, while still keeping ultimate control. By threatening direct primaries, he has given governors a powerful incentive to genuinely negotiate rather than simply bulldoze opponents.
The Senate question: What governors were really told
The most sensitive topic of the evening was the growing list of second-term governors eyeing Senate seats. At least eight APC governors will complete their final terms in May 2027, and nearly all have indicated interest in moving to the upper legislative chamber.
Contrary to earlier reports that Tinubu would discourage this trend to protect sitting senators, Spear News Nigeria gathered that the President took a more pragmatic position. He reportedly told the governors that seeking any elective office is their constitutional right, but warned that they must not assume that incumbency as governor guarantees a Senate ticket.
A senior party official familiar with the discussion said Tinubu drew a clear line: “If you want to go to the Senate, you must go through the same process as every other aspirant. No automatic ticket. No hijacking of party structures to lock out others. If you believe you have served well, let your record speak. But do not create a crisis where the party loses the seat entirely because of your ambition.”
This message has landed differently across the country. In the South-West, where Tinubu’s political influence remains strongest, governors are reportedly moving to negotiate with sitting senators rather than push them aside. In Ogun State, backchannel talks are underway between Governor Dapo Abiodun’s camp and Senator Gbenga Daniel’s team to avoid a costly primary battle.
But in the North, the reception has been frostier. Spear News Nigeria gathered that senators from the North-East and North-West have formed a loose alliance to resist what they call “executive colonization” of the legislature. Some have threatened to decamp to opposition parties if their governors forcefully take over their tickets.
Gombe and the battle for Dankwambo’s turf
One state where the President’s directive is being watched closely is Gombe. Outgoing Governor Inuwa Yahaya is widely believed to be targeting the Gombe North senatorial seat currently held by former governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But Dankwambo, a seasoned politician who once served as Accountant-General of the Federation, is not a pushover.
What makes Gombe particularly interesting is that the President’s insistence on fair play could actually benefit the APC in unexpected ways. If Yahaya secures the ticket through a credible process and goes on to defeat Dankwambo, the party gains a powerful voice in the Senate. But if the process is perceived as rigged, Dankwambo could use the sympathy vote to hold onto the seat for the PDP.
Sources close to the Presidency told Spear News Nigeria that Tinubu is fully aware of the Gombe dynamics and has quietly advised Yahaya to avoid a bitter clash that could energise Dankwambo’s support base.
Yobe’s consensus model and the Buni-Lawan calculus
In contrast to the tensions elsewhere, Yobe State appears to have taken the President’s message to heart. Following a stakeholders’ meeting in Damaturu, the APC leadership in the state has opted for a full consensus model. Governor Mai Mala Buni, former Senate President Ahmad Lawan, and other key figures reportedly agreed to present a united front.
This is the template Tinubu would like to see replicated nationwide. But political realities differ. In states where gubernatorial succession battles are already heating up—such as Kwara, Nasarawa, and Borno—consensus remains a distant hope.
What happens now
With the sale of nomination forms beginning on Saturday, April 25, the next two weeks will separate the serious contenders from the pretenders. The President has effectively thrown the contest open while retaining the power to intervene if any state’s primary threatens to spin out of control.
For the second-term governors, the closed-door meeting delivered both good and bad news. The good news is that Tinubu did not block their Senate ambitions. The bad news is that they now have to win their tickets the hard way—on the field, not in the Villa.
For the sitting senators, the meeting was a rare victory. They have been given a fighting chance. Whether they can convert that chance into tickets will depend on their grassroots appeal and their ability to resist the financial firepower of outgoing governors.
And for President Tinubu, the strategy is clear: keep the party together long enough to win 2027, then deal with the consequences afterward. Whether this approach succeeds or backfires spectacularly will be written in the coming weeks.
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