As the 2027 presidential election approaches, an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Prince Paul Ikonne, has said sustained criticism of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is driven by fear of the ruling party’s growing influence nationwide.

Ikonne made the assertion while responding to comments by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe questioning Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 election.

Speaking on TVC’s This Morning on Tuesday, Ikonne described Abaribe’s remarks as politically desperate and disconnected from current realities.

Recall that Abaribe had claimed on Monday that President Tinubu did not win the 2023 election and would not win again in 2027.

Responding, Ikonne insisted Tinubu’s victory was decisive, legitimate, and affirmed by both electoral and judicial processes.

He further alleged that Abaribe lacked moral standing to challenge Tinubu’s popularity, particularly in Abia State, claiming the senator was no longer in touch with grassroots politics.

“If you know Senator Abaribe very well, you will realise he is an attention seeker,” Ikonne said. “He did not win his own election in 2023. A young man defeated him.”

He claimed that nearly 90 per cent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) structure in the South-East had collapsed into the APC.

“The raw materials of politics are human beings, and those human beings are gravitating towards President Tinubu,” Ikonne said. “There will be an Asiwaju tsunami in 2027.”

He dismissed claims of a looming one-party state, arguing that defections were driven by performance, not coercion.

“APC has ideology—development, youth empowerment, inclusiveness,” he said.