The ruling All Progressives Congress is pushing ahead with submitting its 2027 election candidates to electoral authorities. This move ignores mounting complaints from party members about how the primaries were conducted.
Party insiders told our reporters on Sunday that the National Working Committee has finished reviewing May's primary results. They're now preparing to send candidate names to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
INEC set June 26 for releasing access codes to its nomination portal. The deadline for submitting all candidate details is July 11.
The APC held presidential, governorship, senatorial, and House primaries across different dates in May. State Assembly primary elections were conducted separately.
Widespread complaints have shadowed these contests since they wrapped up. Aspirants reported vote theft, forced candidate selections, and sudden disqualifications.
Party leadership has shown no interest in revisiting the results. Sources say top officials plan to stick with whatever came out of the May exercises.
Anger is spreading across Lagos, Rivers, Delta, Plateau, Zamfara, Benue, Kogi, and Osun states. Candidates who lost are filing complaints and threatening court action.
Over 60 federal lawmakers failed to get party tickets for another round. Several prominent politicians have already quit the APC over this.
Former Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege left the party. So did former Police Inspector General Mohammed Adamu and Kebbi South senator Garba Maidoki.
Unhappy aspirants from Benue, Kogi, and Nasarawa spoke to our reporters in confidence. They warned the APC faces serious electoral damage if grievances stay unresolved.
One frustrated aspirant blasted the party's rush to submit names. "This is absolute nonsense," he said.
He questioned why leadership couldn't wait until the July 11 deadline. "Why the rush when there are still weeks left to address genuine grievances?" he asked.
According to him, moving forward now will spark fresh chaos inside the party. Expect more defections, protests, and lawsuits, he warned.
"This is an invitation to chaos," the aspirant noted. "It will only lead to more protests, more defections and more litigation."
He pointed out that many candidates spent enormous sums to participate. Some spent between N20 million and N50 million just on nomination forms.
"You cannot simply ignore legitimate complaints and expect everyone to move on," he stated. The aspirant cautioned that dismissing these concerns will ultimately hurt the party at the ballot box.
More aggrieved members are threatening to take legal action against the party. Others are considering defections to rival political parties.
Party unity appears fragile as the 2027 election draws closer. Internal tensions could significantly weaken the APC's electoral standing.
