By Rayyanu Bala

Governor Abdullahi Sule’s clarification on the position of the APC Governors’ Forum is, in my view, a straightforward one. The issue, as he explained it, is not about forcing people who are outside the APC to support the party’s candidates. It is about consistency among those who choose to remain members of the party.
Speaking with TVC News from the United States on September 22, 2026, Governor Sule explained that the concern of the APC Governors’ Forum was particularly directed at APC members who say they will support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu but will not support other APC candidates on the ballot.
If a politician is not a member of the APC and openly says, “I will support President Tinubu, but I will not support other APC candidates,” there is really no contradiction in that position. A politician has the right to belong to one political party, support a particular presidential candidate from another party or political platform, and make that position known. Governor Sule himself pointed to examples such as Minister Nyesom Wike, as well as governors who have made it clear that they are not APC members but nevertheless support President Tinubu.
In such circumstances, Sule’s position appears to be: thank you for the support, and move on.
The real issue arises when someone is an APC member and then says, in effect, “I support the APC presidential candidate, but I will not support other APC candidates.”
That is where the argument about consistency comes in.
Politics, like most things in life, has some basic expectations of consistency. If you willingly belong to a political party, participate in its internal processes, seek its ticket and remain under its platform, it becomes difficult to explain why you would support only one candidate of that party while actively supporting candidates of other parties in other races.
That is essentially the point Governor Sule was making.
If an APC member genuinely believes that President Tinubu deserves his or her support but that other APC candidates do not deserve the same support, that is a political choice. But there is also a legitimate question about why that person should continue to present himself as a committed member of the APC while campaigning or voting for the candidates of rival parties.
If your political allegiance is to Tinubu alone and not to the party and its candidates, then why remain in the party?
You could leave the APC, support President Tinubu from outside the party and make your political position clear. There would be no confusion about where you stand. That would at least be a consistent political position.
This is where Governor Sule’s argument about what he described as “eye-service” becomes relevant. He is essentially drawing a line between people who are outside the APC but support the President and APC members who want to claim the identity of the party while selectively rejecting its candidates.
The former is understandable. The latter raises questions about political consistency and loyalty.
Of course, belonging to a political party does not mean surrendering one’s conscience. Party members can disagree with candidates, policies and decisions. They can criticize their party and even oppose particular decisions. But there is a difference between disagreement and adopting a political strategy in which one publicly claims membership of a party while systematically supporting its opponents at the polls.
The APC Governors’ Forum, as he presented it, is saying that if you are an APC member, the expectation is that you support the party’s candidates from the top of the ballot down not that you select President Tinubu at the presidential level and then move to another party at every other level.
Governor Sule also referred to situations in Kwara, Nasarawa and Benue where, according to him, some politicians contested APC primaries, lost, and subsequently sought to support President Tinubu while opposing other APC candidates. Whether one agrees with his characterization of individual cases or not, the principle he is advancing is clear: losing a party primary does not ordinarily mean that one’s membership automatically becomes a license to work against the party while still claiming its membership.
A non-APC politician who says, “I support President Tinubu, but I support my own party’s candidates elsewhere,” is making an independent political choice.
An APC member who says, “I support President Tinubu, but I will support candidates of other parties against APC candidates,” is taking a position that sits uneasily with the idea of party loyalty.
At the very least, it creates an obvious question of consistency and, in the strongest interpretation of Sule’s argument, can amount to political hypocrisy.
Ultimately, Governor Sule’s message is not that every Nigerian must support the APC. Far from it. Nigerians are free to belong to whichever political party they choose and support whichever candidates they believe in.
His point is narrower: if you choose to remain an APC member, especially after seeking and accepting the party’s platform, the expectation is that your political support should extend beyond President Tinubu to other APC candidates.
If you cannot support those candidates and instead intend to support rival parties, then perhaps the more straightforward political position is to leave the APC and support President Tinubu from wherever you choose to stand.
That, essentially, is the position Governor Sule has put on the table and it is a debate about political consistency within a party, rather than an argument that everyone outside the APC must support the APC.