The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has described the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) performance in four recent bye-elections as significant ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, made the assessment in a statement shared on his social media account while commenting on the outcome of the elections held across three geopolitical regions.
According to the minister, the APC secured four of the five Federal and State Assembly seats contested in the North-West, North-East and South-South.
He identified Kano in the North-West, Bauchi and Gombe in the North-East, and Delta State in the South-South as the areas where the governing party recorded victories. The APC, however, lost one State Assembly seat in Bauchi State to the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
Keyamo said the geographical spread of the party’s victories was particularly noteworthy in the context of the 2027 presidential election.
He also referenced the constitutional requirement that a presidential candidate must obtain at least 25 per cent of the votes in two-thirds of the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
According to the minister, the provision reflects Nigeria’s diverse political and geographical composition. He said the implication of the bye-election results for presidential politics would be examined more fully after the 2027 election.
Keyamo linked his comments to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s expected participation in the 2027 presidential contest. He said he would “keep our gunpowder dry” before providing a more detailed analysis of what he described as a significant factor in presidential elections.
The minister also referred to January 19 or 20, 2027, when he said he expected the presidential election result to be declared. His comments included a prediction that Tinubu would be declared winner and the phrase, “No be cho cho cho!!”
The APC’s four victories in the bye-elections therefore formed the basis of Keyamo’s argument about the party’s geographical reach ahead of the 2027 elections, although the bye-election results themselves covered only five legislative constituencies across three geopolitical regions.
