Exclusion Crisis: APC Hints On What To Do Next With Presidential Campaign Council List

Exclusion Crisis

 

OpenLife News reports that the All Progressives Congress, APC, has hinted that its 2027 Presidential Campaign Council list will be adjusted to accommodate more stakeholders, but insisted the document has not been withdrawn despite the controversy trailing it.

The clarification comes amid an “exclusion crisis” in the party, with several state chapters and chieftains complaining about being left out of the campaign structure.

Sunday Dare,  Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, made this known on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.

Dare was responding to reports that the APC had withdrawn the list following backlash over the inclusion and exclusion of some party leaders.

“As it is with every other list, there’s a room for subcommittees. Those subcommittees have not been formed, and so many other names will come into that subcommittee,” Dare said.

“So that list has not been withdrawn. The APC has issued a statement to that effect yesterday, that list stands. But of course, there will be adjustments. The list is not cast in stone, just like every other list.”

It would be recalled that on Tuesday, the APC rejected reports that the 2027 campaign council list had been withdrawn.

The list, announced over the weekend, named: President Bola Tinubu – Chairman, Vice President Kashim Shettima – Vice Chairman;  APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda – Vice Chairman; Senator Abdul’aziz Yari – Director-General and Governor Hope Uzodimma  – Secretary.

When asked if the list was open to a “review,” Dare avoided the word, saying what to expect are “adjustments where necessary.” “Not a review, just adjustments where necessary,” he said.

Pressed further on whether the reluctance to use “review” meant the list was being reconsidered, the presidential aide said: “Review is wholesale, this is not wholesale.”

According to Dare, the creation of additional subcommittees will provide room for more party members and political stakeholders to be carried along in the campaign structure.

Why The Controversy?

Since the list was released, several APC stakeholders have raised concerns over alleged exclusion of key figures, especially from states where the party is battling internal crisis ahead of 2027.

Sources within the party said the complaints came from governors, former governors, and federal appointees who expected to feature prominently but were omitted.

Political analysts say how the APC handles the “exclusion crisis” will determine party unity ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

With Dare’s comments, the APC appears to be adopting a damage-control approach: keep the original list intact for now, but expand it through subcommittees to placate aggrieved members.

The party is expected to announce the subcommittee structure in the coming weeks, which could see many of the excluded names brought back into the campaign fold.

For now, the Presidency insists: the list is valid, but not final.