“APC Didn’t Need the Drama”: Jake Epelle Says Tinubu Could Have Been Declared Consensus Candidate From the Start
Political analyst and disability rights advocate Jake Epelle has stirred reactions across Nigeria’s political space after openly questioning the need for the ruling party’s internal endorsement process for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking during a political discussion, Epelle argued that the All Progressives Congress could have simply declared Tinubu its consensus candidate instead of organizing what he described as a predictable and carefully orchestrated political process.
According to him, the outcome was already obvious long before party stakeholders publicly gathered to endorse the president for another term.
> “They would have just on their own concluded that Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a consensuous candidate,” Epelle said while criticizing what he implied was an unnecessary political ceremony.
His remarks come amid increasing conversations surrounding the early endorsement of President Tinubu by several APC leaders, governors, and influential stakeholders across the country. In recent months, prominent figures within the ruling party have publicly thrown their support behind Tinubu’s potential second-term ambition, describing his administration as one that deserves continuity despite the economic hardship currently facing millions of Nigerians.
Epelle’s statement appears to reflect the concerns of critics who believe Nigeria’s political parties often stage internal democratic processes even when outcomes have already been determined behind closed doors. His comments also reignite long-standing debates about transparency, internal democracy, and consensus politics within major political parties in the country.
Under Nigeria’s electoral system, political parties are expected to conduct primaries or adopt consensus arrangements in selecting candidates for elections. However, critics have repeatedly argued that many of these exercises merely formalize decisions already agreed upon by party power brokers.
The APC has in recent weeks witnessed a wave of endorsements from governors, ministers, lawmakers, and party loyalists who insist that Tinubu remains the party’s strongest political force ahead of 2027. Supporters of the president frequently point to his decades-long political influence, his role in building the APC coalition that defeated the Peoples Democratic Party in 2015, and what they describe as bold economic reforms introduced by his administration since assuming office in May 2023.
Tinubu’s presidency has been marked by major policy decisions, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market — reforms the government says are necessary to stabilize Nigeria’s economy in the long term. However, these measures have also triggered inflation, rising living costs, and growing public frustration across several sectors of society.
Despite mounting criticism from opposition parties and economic analysts, Tinubu continues to maintain significant influence within the APC structure. Many political observers believe there is currently no visible heavyweight challenger within the ruling party capable of confronting the president for the party’s ticket should he formally seek re-election.
This perceived dominance may have informed Epelle’s assertion that the APC leadership could have simply acknowledged political reality and openly declared Tinubu as the party’s preferred candidate instead of creating what some observers describe as a symbolic endorsement process.
The statement has since generated mixed reactions online. While supporters of the president insist Tinubu deserves the endorsements because of his leadership experience and political capacity, critics argue that early endorsements distract the government from addressing pressing national issues such as insecurity, unemployment, inflation, and economic hardship.
Others believe the growing focus on the 2027 elections, barely halfway into Tinubu’s current tenure, reflects Nigeria’s deeply entrenched culture of perpetual politicking, where governance and electioneering often run simultaneously.
As political alignments gradually begin ahead of the next electoral cycle, comments like Epelle’s are likely to continue fueling public conversations about the credibility of party primaries, consensus candidacies, and the true nature of internal democracy within Nigeria’s political system.
For now, however, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains firmly at the center of Nigeria’s political landscape — with allies consolidating support and critics questioning whether the democratic process within the ruling party is genuinely competitive or merely ceremonial.
0 Comments