2027 Election Will Be Adjusted Where Necessary, Denying Reports That the List Has Been Withdrawn or Subjected to a Wholesale Review

Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, made this known on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television's Sunrise Daily. He was responding to reports that the APC had withdrawn the list following controversy over the inclusion and exclusion of some party leaders and other political figures. Dare said the list remained valid, stressing that the party was yet to constitute all the subcommittees that would make up the campaign structure.

"As it is with every other list, there's a room for subcommittees." Those subcommittees have not been formed, and so many other names will come into that subcommittee, Dare said. "So that list has not been withdrawn. The APC has issued a statement to that effect yesterday, that list stands.

But of course, there will be adjustments. The list is not cast in stone, just like every other list. The APC had on Tuesday rejected reports that its 2027 presidential campaign council list had been withdrawn.

The list, announced over the weekend, named President Tinubu as chairman of the council, with Vice-President Kashim Shettima and APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda as vice chairmen. Former Zamfara State Governor and Senator Abdul'aziz Yari was named Director-General, while Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma was designated secretary. Asked whether the list was therefore open to review, Dare avoided the term "review, describing the expected changes instead as adjustments.

"Not a review, just adjustments where necessary," he said. When pressed on whether his reluctance to use the word "review" meant the list was indeed being reconsidered, the presidential aide maintained that the expected changes did not amount to a comprehensive overhaul. Review is wholesale, this is not wholesale, Dare said.