Former Zamfara governorship candidate and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji (Dr.) Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, has cautioned that only transparent and credible primaries will determine who emerges as the party’s flagbearer for the 2027 general elections.
Shinkafi, who served as Patron of the Tinubu–Shettima Presidential Campaign Council in 2023 and leads the Wamban Shinkafi Democratic Front, said the era of godfatherism in the APC is over, stressing that every aspirant must “test their popularity before the people.”
In a statement personally signed, Shinkafi urged the party in Zamfara to uphold internal democracy and avoid the pitfalls that led to its electoral setbacks in 2019 and 2023.
He backed the resolutions of APC stakeholders’ meeting held in Talata Mafara and chaired by former Governor Abdul’aziz Yari, which rejected the imposition of candidates and endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term.
“All aspirants shall test their popularity at the party primaries notwithstanding their status within the APC family,” Shinkafi said. “It is to avoid the blunders of the 2019 and 2023 elections that cost us dearly in Zamfara.”
Stakeholders at the meeting—comprising party elders, lawmakers, ex-commissioners, and local government executives—resolved that all primaries must strictly comply with the Electoral Act 2022, INEC guidelines, and APC’s internal rules.
They also agreed that consensus candidacy should only apply if all aspirants voluntarily withdraw and endorse a single candidate in writing, as stipulated by law.
Shinkafi, recalling the 2019 Supreme Court judgment that nullified APC victories in Zamfara due to invalid primaries, said the party cannot afford a repeat. He lamented that similar disregard for due process during the 2023 elections alienated party members and voters.
“Unpopular and unacceptable candidates emerged and were rejected by the electorate who abhor imposition,” he said, adding that despite Tinubu’s victory in Zamfara, the party’s losses in governorship and legislative polls revealed deep internal fractures.
He urged the APC hierarchy to return to the path of due process, unity, and reconciliation, describing discipline and fairness as key to restoring the party’s dominance.
“It is time to work as one political family to build a greater and prosperous Zamfara State,” he said.
Shinkafi affirmed that his group, the Wamban Shinkafi Democratic Front, has fully adopted the resolutions of the November 1 stakeholders’ meeting, calling them “a blueprint for restoring APC’s strength and credibility in Zamfara.”
“If implemented, our great party will bounce back stronger, ready to win future elections and avoid the mistakes of the past,” he added.
