Stanley Osifo, the only notable challenger to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential primary process, has conceded victory following the president’s overwhelming performance in the party’s direct primary held across the country.
A report said that Osifo, also known as Osifo Stanley Osayamen, had entered the race as the rare party man willing to test his strength against Tinubu, the incumbent president who already enjoyed the open backing of APC governors, National Assembly leaders and major power blocs within the ruling party.
The Edo-born APC chieftain and entrepreneur had earlier declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential ticket, purchased the party’s nomination forms and submitted himself to the screening process, insisting that internal democracy must not be reduced to mere endorsement.
But the contest turned heavily in Tinubu’s favour as results from several states showed the president recording landslide victories in the direct primary held on Saturday, May 23, 2026.
In Bayelsa, for instance, Tinubu polled 277,192 votes, while Osifo secured five votes, according to results declared after voting across the state’s 105 wards.
The exercise, conducted across APC wards and local government areas, was part of the party’s decision to adopt the direct primary mode for choosing its presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 election.
Following the outcome, Osifo accepted defeat in what supporters described as a mature and sportsmanlike gesture, effectively clearing the way for Tinubu to emerge as the APC flagbearer for the 2027 presidential election.
Video clips of his concession have since circulated on X, drawing reactions from Nigerians who praised him for accepting the result without drama, while others used the development to question the real depth of internal contest within the ruling party.
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Osifo’s concession to Tinubu has now turned what could have been a bitter post-primary dispute into a symbolic moment of party unity. Though he was heavily defeated, his decision to step forward and later accept the verdict has been framed by supporters as a rare act of political maturity in Nigeria’s often combative electoral space..
For Tinubu, the concession by Osifo removes the last visible hurdle within the APC presidential primary process and strengthens the image of a ruling party rallying behind an incumbent ahead of the 2027 general election.
For Osifo, however, the episode may have given him national recognition as the man who dared to challenge a sitting president inside his own party, even when the odds were overwhelmingly against him. [With GWG report, excluding headline]
