All Progressives Congress, APC, has dismissed the report saying the National Assembly members of the party would be granted automatic tickets in the 2027 election.
This was contained in a statement by National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, on Tuesday in Abuja.
He stated that the report was fake as the party never took such a decision.
Morka did not, however, stated if the party would consider the matter in the future.
He said, “The attention of the APC has been drawn to a purported breaking news report tagged “APC Grants Automatic Tickets to All National Assembly Members” in viral circulation.
“The report is fake news and should be disregarded in its entirety. As it did not emanate from our great party.
“We urge all party members and the general public to disregard the report as fake and of mischievous origin.”
Recall that in 2023 the party granted automatic ticket to its National Assembly and State House of Assembly members.
About two weeks ago, the APC leadership, the party’s 22 Governors and Federal Legislators adopted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as its sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election.
The endorsement took place at the party’s national summit at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
At the forum, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, moved a motion for the president’s endorsement. His motion was seconded by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen.
They were joined by their deputies, Barau Jibrin and Ben Kalu.
In moving to motion, Akpabio said, “I hereby move, and let it be moved, that not only should President Bola Ahmed Tinubu be the sole presidential candidate of the APC in 2027, but he should also be the unanimous choice of the Nigerian people.”
Akpabio noted that President Tinubu has set Nigeria on the path of growth.
Recall that while presenting the 2025 budget to a joint session of the 10th National Assembly in December last year, President Tinubu had jokingly said the lawmakers had been re-elected.
However, a mild drama played out while the President was concluding the presentation. The lawmakers cautioned the President that he had addressed the 10th Assembly and not the 11th Assembly, as he erroneously said.
Upon hearing the caution, President Tinubu asked, “10? I wrote 11.”
Following this, there was an uproar in the House chamber where the joint session was held. A development that prompted the President to say, “Which means you are re-elected.”
When the lawmakers heard President Tinubu’s remark, they broke into a song, saying, “On your mandate we shall stand, Bola.”
Following recent defections from the opposition parties, APC now has 68 members in the 109-member Senate. And about 190 in the 360-member House of Representatives.