A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former presidential aspirant, Chief Charles Udeogaranya, has openly rejected the idea of granting an automatic ticket to President Bola Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election.
Udeogaranya’s statement follows the recent endorsement of Tinubu by the APC leadership, including governors and National Assembly lawmakers, during the APC National Summit held in Abuja.
In a strongly worded statement personally signed and released on Thursday, the APC stalwart insisted that there must be no preferential treatment or automatic candidacy for any aspirant in the next presidential race.
“There is no provision for automatic ticket in a true democratic process,” he declared. “I will be contesting the 2027 presidential election on the platform of our great party, the APC.”
Citing historic democratic principles, Udeogaranya referenced iconic figures in global democracy. “While I deeply and respectfully appreciate my fellow APC members at their Abuja summit, I must state that this democracy, birthed by Thomas Jefferson in the U.S. Declaration of Independence in 1776, entrenched by Abraham Lincoln in Gettysburg in 1863, and globally expressed by Martin Luther King Jr. in his 1963 speech in Washington, will not be allowed to fail in Nigeria come 2027.”
He warned against endorsing a consensus candidate in the face of Nigeria’s socio-economic woes. “There is no room for consensus in the face of chronic hunger and poverty.”
“There is no room for consensus in economic stagnation, insecurity, nepotism, or in clueless leadership.” Udeogaranya said.
The former 2019 APC presidential aspirant stressed that his vision is anchored on a new Nigeria driven by “creativity, nationalism, and shared prosperity for all citizens.”
Declaring his ambition, he emphasized, “I am offering myself once again for the service of this nation. Nigeria needs new leadership that listens, that innovates, and that leads with empathy and national purpose.”
