By Zachariah C. Hyellamada
2027 Is Not Only About Numbers—It’s About Loyalty, Narrative, and Consolidation
The noise outside is loud—coalitions, ADC alignments, and Obi-Atiku fantasies. But if we’re being honest, the real danger to APC in 2027 is not the opposition. It is the discontent simmering within.
We are not strangers to history. In 2019, APC controlled more states than in 2023, yet our margin narrowed. In 2023, despite winning the presidency, we lost key states—including Lagos, Katsina, Plateau, Zamfara, and Kano—not because of external strength, but because of internal betrayal, factional sabotage, and silent protest votes.
In most of these states, it wasn’t Atiku or Obi who defeated APC—it was APC members who stayed home, worked against the party, or gave oxygen to the opposition.
Today, those fault lines still exist.
Many of the loudest voices aligning with the so-called ADC coalition are disgruntled former APC chieftains—people who didn’t get appointments, didn’t win primaries, or feel ignored by the current power structure.
They still wear APC colours in public, but their hearts—and WhatsApp groups—are already working against 2027.
That is the real battle.
Analytical Breakdown
•The Obidients and Atiku camps are disorganised and ego-driven. Their recent fight over ADC candidacy—where both camps are threatening to support Tinubu if they don’t get the ticket—is proof of fragility.
•But disgruntled APC leaders are organised, quiet, and deadly. They control local structures, influence key delegates, and shape regional perceptions.
•Disengaged APC youth, underutilised grassroots loyalists, and sidelined party elders are beginning to drift ideologically, not to PDP, but to apathy. And apathy is the opposition’s best ally.
What Must Be Done—Strategically
1. Internal Realignment Before External Engagement
We must urgently initiate a reconciliation and reabsorption mechanism to bring back sidelined APC actors at the ward, LG, and state levels. Reward loyalty. Re-engage the wounded. Reassign the ignored. If we don’t fix in-house frustration, we will empower external rebellion.
2. Narrative Ownership Must Begin From Within
Our biggest critics are not LP trolls—they are silent APC stakeholders asking, “What is in it for us?”
The reform story must be told in a way that answers this question: What do party loyalists gain from defending these bold decisions? There must be a grassroots-visible impact.
3. Close the Gap Between Power and Party
Many Tinubu appointees have little or no contact with party structures. There must be a directive to synergise governance with party mobilisation.
Power must not float—it must flow through the structure that delivered it.
Forecast for 2027
If APC can:
•Reunify its internal factions before Q2 2026,
•Dominate the reform narrative both digitally and traditionally, and
• Weaponise structure instead of relying solely on incumbency,
Then no external coalition—fragmented or united—can defeat us.
But if we neglect internal healing and continue with a winner-takes-all posture, we risk creating a silent coalition more dangerous than any visible one.
The loudest threat is not always the real one. 2027 will be lost or won inside the PC, not outside.
We must act now.
Zachariah C. Hyellamada is the PA to the Chairman of the NSITF Management Board. Chairman, APC Strategy and Policy Council. Northeast Coordinator, BAT Vanguard
