Fresh revelations have emerged indicating that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the chief architect behind the automatic return tickets granted to serving All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers, dismantling widespread rumours attributing the arrangement to an elusive “Abuja cabal”, Starnews NG reports.
Speaking on Saturday, an Ondo State lawmaker who directly benefited from the ticket allocation disclosed to Starnews Nigeria that the move was not the work of shadowy power brokers, but rather the fulfilment of a personal, direct pledge made by President Tinubu, executed via Senate Leader Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (MOB) and the APC National Working Committee (NWC).
According to him, “President Bola Tinubu is a man of his word. Whenever he makes a promise, you can be confident that he will keep it.” The lawmaker added that the development fulfilled the promise the President had made to all those affected.
Dissecting the “Abuja Cabal” Narrative
For months, public discourse and political analysts attributed the substitution of primary election winners with incumbent legislators across the country to manipulation by a so-called Abuja cabal operating behind the scenes.
The beneficiary firmly dismissed that narrative as misinformation, asserting that President Tinubu personally orchestrated and stood behind the entire arrangement. Describing the President as a “talk and do” politician whose word is his bond, the lawmaker maintained that President Tinubu intentionally protects those who support him and does not retract commitments or his promises once given.
The dispute over return tickets reflects a nationwide flashpoint within the APC, where serving lawmakers lobbied the presidency for protection against local party machinery, while state-level aspirants insisted on competitive primaries.
Ondo State as a Case Study
In Ondo State, several incumbent lawmakers received return tickets despite fierce local opposition and claims of victory by rival aspirants in the primaries. The substitution of names on official candidate lists submitted to electoral authorities ignited public accusations of imposition and internal subversion.
Similar fractures surfaced in other state chapters across the federation, where aspirants who spent substantial resources mobilising delegates found their tickets handed back to incumbent federal and state legislators.
MOB’s Strategic Role and Presidential Chess Play
According to the lawmaker, the operation required delicate execution to protect President Tinubu’s broader political interests ahead of his re-election campaign.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele was identified as the key operative who perfected the strategy.
Bamidele liaised between the presidency and the APC NWC to guarantee that the President’s commitment to returning legislators was fully implemented at the party secretariat.
Aware that confronting state governors could jeopardise the grassroots support required for his own re-election, President Tinubu publicly stated that lawmakers seeking tickets should negotiate through their state governors. The lawmaker revealed this public posture was a calculated diversion, allowing the presidency to avoid offending powerful state executives while its designated operatives secured the tickets through party channels.
While the strategy secured tickets for incumbent beneficiaries, Starnews NG reports that it has created a severe legal backlash for the ruling party. Primary contenders who claimed outright victories at the delegate polls have openly rejected the substituted lists, characterising the process as a breach of internal party democracy.
Multiple aggrieved aspirants across Ondo and other states have dragged the APC, its national leadership, and the declared candidates before the courts, demanding the invalidation of automatic tickets and the restoration of their mandates under the Electoral Act.
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