The nationwide exercise, which was characterized by significant logistics and heavy security deployment, was conducted simultaneously across the party’s 8,809 wards. Unlike the indirect delegate system often prone to controversies, the APC deployed the direct primary method on Saturday, allowing card-carrying party members to vote directly in their various local polling centres, creating a carnival-like atmosphere in many communities.
President Tinubu contested the primary election against Stanley Osifo Osayamen, who emerged as the sole challenger in the race. Osayamen had earlier surprised political observers by purchasing the party’s N100 million presidential nomination and expression of interest forms, vowing to test his popularity against the incumbent. However, early figures released from different parts of the country by local electoral officers indicated overwhelming, near-unanimous votes in favor of the president, rendering the challenger's effort largely symbolic.
In President Tinubu’s own Ikoyi ward in Lagos State, a traditional stronghold of the progressive movement, the primary election turned into a one-sided affair. Local returning officials reported that the president secured a staggering 4,996 votes, while his challenger, Osayamen, polled zero votes, an outcome that triggered instantaneous singing and dancing among the assembled party faithful.
Similar landslide outcomes were recorded across a vast majority of northern and southern states, where party officials and enthusiastic supporters turned out in large numbers as early as 8:00 AM to participate in the accreditation and voting processes. The high turnout, according to party elders, defied initial apprehensions regarding voter apathy.
At one major voting unit monitored in Kebbi State, northwestern Nigeria, where senior APC leaders, cabinet ministers, and state legislators were seen queuing openly under the sun for accreditation and voting, the trend remained unchanged. In that specific location, President Tinubu was said to have secured 5,652 votes, completely shutting out his opposition. The smooth conduct of the exercise in the northwest, a critical voting bloc, was viewed by analysts as a major statement of solidarity from the region's political elite toward the president's continuation in office.
The rapid development and early projections sparked spontaneous celebrations among APC supporters at various local government secretariats. Loyalists described the overwhelmingly positive outcome as a definitive sign of growing unity, cohesion, and stability within the ruling party ahead of the rigorous campaign season that lies ahead in the next election cycle.
Speaking to journalists shortly after casting his own vote amidst tight security, President Tinubu praised the transparency of the exercise. He described the direct primary process as an authentic reflection of deep-rooted internal democracy within the APC, emphasizing that power truly belongs to the ordinary members of the party.
“This is grassroots politics, where every member of the party has the right to participate and be involved. This is to ensure we have internal democracy,” the president said, while flashing a smile and holding up his inked finger to the cheering crowd.
President Tinubu also expressed his profound satisfaction with the peaceful and orderly conduct of the exercise across the states, noting that the absence of major violence was a victory for Nigerian democracy. He further extended his commendations to the APC governors, the National Working Committee, and local organizing committees for their administrative roles in coordinating the massive logistics required to pull off a hitch-free primary election across thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory.
According to guidelines issued by the APC National Secretariat, party officials confirmed that the results gathered from the various wards would be systematically moved under armed escort to local government and state collation centres. This would precede the final collation and official declaration of the winner, which is expected to take place at the party's national headquarters in Abuja on Sunday.
As the country inches closer to the 2027 general election, the result of Saturday's direct primary solidifies President Tinubu's grip on the ruling party's structure. Political analysts note that the scale of the victory sends a clear signal to opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labor Party, that the ruling APC intends to present a united front to the electorate, centered around the president's ongoing economic and structural reforms.
