The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) bloc within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has demanded the retention of the vice-presidential slot in 2027 and a clear path to the presidency in 2031.
It further urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to honour the foundational power-sharing agreement that birthed the party in 2013.
The bloc, which operates under the platform of the Association of Former ANPP Members, warned during a press conference in Abuja on Monday that it would reconsider its membership in the APC if its role in the party continues to be overlooked.
Delivering the group’s official position, National Coordinator and former ANPP Deputy National Chairman (South), Professor Vitalis Orikeze Ajumbe, called on President Tinubu not to field any vice-presidential candidate in 2027 from outside the ANPP bloc.
“The ticket you are serving will be disappointed if you choose another person outside the ANPP bloc as your vice president,” Ajumbe stated.
He explained that the demand was a consensus reached after the bloc’s leadership meeting, which reviewed its future within the APC.
“A few hours ago, we concluded the leadership meeting of the Association of Former ANPP Members of the APC on behalf of millions of our members across the country, where we reviewed issues concerning our membership of the All Progressives Congress,” he said.
Ajumbe accused the previous administration of President Muhammadu Buhari of marginalising the bloc throughout its eight-year rule, stating that despite being the second-largest contributor to the APC merger, ANPP loyalists were politically sidelined.
“Our ordeal under Buhari was that he wasn’t a well-groomed politician like the incumbent president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who started with politics and rose to his current status in Nigerian politics,” he said.
“If politics is truly about equity, justice and fair play, members of the ANPP bloc in the APC should have been given sensitive political positions under President Buhari. But we were not—instead, we were subjected to nihility and political redundancy.”
He emphasised that the ANPP bloc boasts an array of seasoned politicians who continue to play key roles in Nigerian governance. Among them is Vice President Kashim Shettima, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum and Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni. The bloc also listed several former governors, senators, and serving lawmakers drawn from its ranks.
Despite this pedigree, Ajumbe lamented that the bloc has been largely excluded from federal appointments under the Tinubu administration.
“Out of all the appointments so far made under the Tinubu-led government—from ministerial to managerial, executive directorship, and other roles—the ANPP bloc in the APC has been conspicuously sidelined,” he said.
Reiterating the bloc’s demand, Ajumbe stressed the importance of retaining the vice presidency within the ANPP camp and ceding the 2031 presidential ticket to the bloc in the spirit of fairness and political balance.
“The vice presidential seat remains sacrosanct for the former ANPP bloc in the APC as the second-largest contributor to the formation of the APC,” he asserted.
“Since the formation of the APC, the CPC bloc has ruled for eight years under the late President Buhari. The ACN bloc is currently occupying the presidency. Fairness and equity demand that our president should hand over power to the ANPP bloc when his tenure expires in 2031.”
