The Forum of State Chairmen of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has distanced itself from reports linking the group to a 2027 endorsement of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, describing such claims as “false, desperate, and politically weightless.”
In a strongly worded statement in Abuja, the Forum accused Atiku’s camp of mounting relentless pressure, including offers of financial inducement, to lure its members into defecting. While confirming that 16 out of its 37 members have aligned with the PDP candidate, the Forum maintained that 20 remain loyal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), with one member deceased.
The CPC chairmen, however, issued a stern warning to the APC leadership and the Presidency over what they called the “growing neglect” of the CPC bloc, one of the three legacy parties that formed the ruling coalition. They insisted that sidelining CPC loyalists amounts to undermining the foundation of the APC and could create vulnerabilities ahead of the 2027 elections.
“The CPC remains the strongest grassroots political structure in the North. Any attempt to treat its loyalists as disposable will only play into the hands of opportunistic opponents,” the Forum asserted.
They reaffirmed loyalty to CPC leaders, including former Nasarawa governor Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, former Katsina governor Aminu Bello Masari, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, while dismissing Atiku’s meeting with a handful of former CPC chairmen as “an empty show of rented crowd politics.”
Political watchers say the Forum’s open discontent is a reminder that internal cracks within the APC’s coalition could become a defining factor in the 2027 race, especially in Northern strongholds where the CPC once held sway.
