All Progressives Congress

The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the party came to power following the victory of party candidate Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 presidential election. This marked the first time in Nigerian history that an opposition party unseated a governing party and power was transferred peacefully. In 2015, the APC won the majority of seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives, although it fell shy of winning a super-majority to override the ability of PDP to block legislation. During Buhari's first term, waves of defections led the party to lose its federal legislative majorities in 2018, with both Senate President Bukola Saraki and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara among the dozens of lawmakers that defected to the PDP. Nonetheless, Buhari was reelected in the 2019 general election, which also saw the party solidify its majorities in both chambers. In 2023 general election, APC candidate Bola Tinubu won the presidential election. He was declared winner by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) polling 8,794,726 votes. Formation Formed in February 2013, the party is the result of a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) along with a breakaway faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the new PDP – a faction of then ruling People's Democratic Party. The resolution was signed by Tom Ikimi, who represented the ACN; Senator Annie Okonkwo on behalf of APGA; Ibrahim Shekarau, the Chairman of ANPP's Merger Committee; and Garba Shehu, the Chairman of CPC's Merger Committee.