APC: Some Initial Primary Winners Now Altered After Appeal, Review by NWC
• Says it has received, vetted over 700 petitions in disputed primaries
• Declares current candidate line-up as absolute
• Party’s governors meet Yilwatda over 2027 polls
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, said after reviewing the report of its appeal committee, which looked into the numerous petitions that trailed the party’s primary elections nationwide, the chances of several initial winners had ultimately been altered.
APC revealed that it received and vetted over 700 petitions from aggrieved members following the conclusion of the party’s primaries.
It said the review by the National Working Committee (NWC), following the recommendations of the appeal committee, produced mixed results, leading to outright structural corrections in certain areas.
As part of the peace building measures ahead of the 2027 general election, the umbrella body of APC governors, Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), has proposed a meeting with the party’s national chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda.
APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said in a telephone chat that rather than dismissing complaints from the primary elections, the leadership of the party painstakingly audited every grievance, in a move that ultimately altered the fates of several initial winners.
Morka stated, “For those aggrieved, we took our time to undertake a very thorough review of all the petitions that came after the primaries. There were over 700 petitions that were received and were properly vetted.
“Some were successful and some were not. Those successful led to some corrections in some constituencies. Those that were not successful meant that those earlier declared were retained.
“In a few cases, there were upsets based on the outcome of the petitions and decisions were made on them.”
With the petition window now closed, APC declared its current candidate line-up as absolute, indicating that the window for internal leadership flips is shut.
Morka stressed that the party’s primary objective was to ensure that all validly nominated standard-bearers successfully completed and returned their INEC Form EC9 (the candidate nomination affidavit).
He stated, “We have gone past that. So the people today who are filling the forms are those who emerged originally without challenge and those who emerged out of the appeal process. This is the final position of the review.
“The priority of the party now is to have all our candidates to fill and complete their INEC nomination form and upload same on INEC platform
“The people who were successful, I mean those who have emerged as the candidates of the party, are being provided with the relevant forms for documentation. They are to fill and return to the party for uploading to the INEC portal.
“The process is already underway, and candidates are actively interacting with the party leadership to ensure smooth transition into the INEC system.”
Morka added that releasing the list of the party’s candidates for the 2027 elections was not a priority now.
He explained, “Having a public release of the list is not our priority now. Though we shall share the list publicly, right now, the priority is to get those who are our candidates to get their forms filled and meet the INEC deadline.
“This is more important to us than the public release of candidates’ list.”
Morka added, “Those who are our candidates, by now, have received their forms. They already know themselves. There is no tension about that.”
2027: APC Govs to Meet Yilwatda
Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), the umbrella body of governors elected on the platform of APC, said they had met with the national chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, in the continued effort to resolve intraparty issues ahead of the 2027 elections.
Chairman of PGF, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, while addressing journalists after the meeting, revealed that the governors reviewed the outcome of the party’s nationwide primaries, the party’s performance in the recent Ekiti State governorship election, and several bye-elections.
The meeting was attended by the governors of Ekiti, Zamfara, Taraba, Lagos, Sokoto, Kano, Kaduna, Gombe, Kebbi, Akwa Ibom, and Borno states, among others.
THISDAY Checks revealed that the ruling party’s nationwide primaries held in May were characterised by controversy, irregular voting processes, allegations of imposition of candidates, and manipulation of delegate lists.
The lack of transparency and fairness in the primaries created uneasy calm in the ruling party. It was against this background that the APC national leadership refused to release the list of successful candidates following the completion of the primaries to prevent crisis in the party.
APC governors decided to review the process as part of troubleshooting efforts to reconcile aggrieved members.
Uzodimma stated that the forum resolved to engage the APC national leadership to harmonise strategies for the next phase of the party’s campaign and strengthen internal cohesion before the general election.
He stressed that beyond electoral preparations, the governors also deliberated on governance and the country’s democratic development, stressing their commitment to ensuring that Nigerians benefit more from APC administrations.
Uzodimma said, “The governors expressed satisfaction with the party’s electoral outings, describing the results as encouraging ahead of the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections.
“We reviewed the outcome of the primaries across the federation, the Ekiti governorship election and the various bye-elections where our party performed impressively,
“We have resolved to work towards solving the challenges facing our democratic space and ensuring that our people are better off.”