APC Presidential Primary: Why I Challenged Tinubu – Osifo

The All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential hopeful, Stanley Osifo, explained why he challenged President Bola Tinubu in the party’s nationwide primary.

Osifo said he had the courage to run against Tinubu in the Saturday primary, where Tinubu won by a landslide and accepted the APC’s nomination for the 2027 presidential election the following day.

Speaking to Arise News after his defeat was confirmed, Osifo stressed that “in APC no one is a loser.” He added that his decision to contest was driven by a desire to help Nigeria improve and to ensure that Nigerians receive the benefits of democracy.

“The election has come and gone, and we have a winner…we don’t have a loser in APC,” he said.

When asked what motivated him to run against the incumbent president, Osifo replied, “The motivating factor is to say that we do work hard at what we’re doing to ensure that Nigeria gets better, and that we continue to dispatch to Nigerians the dividends of democracy, and more importantly, also to deepen democracy within our party.”

Asked whether he believed he could ever defeat Tinubu or if he was merely seeking the title of former presidential aspirant, he answered, “This is not my first time. I’ve done it before, and then this time around I came out for the same position.”

He added, “In everything the party is supreme, and then loyalty to the party is very, very important. So, whatever we have done so far is done within the party. It’s an internal process, not an external process.”

Osifo acknowledged that there were “a lot of intrigues,” but maintained that the party’s internal processes were sound.

Having received only one vote in his own ward, Osifo said he would not conclude that his local supporters dislike him, noting that “for every action there are reasons.”