As Controversy Trails APC’s 2026 Primaries…

The recently concluded All Progressives Congress primaries in the 36 states of the federation and Federal Capital Territory were shrouded in controversy. Victitious results,  outright rigging and manipulation were reportedly the order of the day. Even the intervention of President Bola Tinubu could not stop the sham witnessed in some states during the shadow election. Adedayo Akinwale reports.

The internal elections of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to elect the party’s standard bearers for various positions for the 2027 general election came to a close last Saturday with the presidential primary of the party.

However, the shadow election to elect the presidential candidate of the party could have been by affirmation, but for the decision of another presidential aspirant, Stanley Osifo to challenge President Bola Tinubu for the plum job.

Recall that the National Secretary of the party, Senator Ajibola Basiru in a notice issued Thursday revealed that the direct primary would be held in each of the 8,809 wards across the country. This gave all registered members of the party the chance to vote for the presidential aspirant of their choice in each of the 8,609 wards In the country.

Results for each ward comprising the 774 Local Governments were collated by the Local Government Collation Officer appointed by the State Coordinator and Collation Officer appointed by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.

At the end of the day, the shadow election went smoothly compared to other primaries conducted by the party. No upset was expected because the outcome was more or less predetermined. At the end of the day, Tinubu triumphed.

But if the other primaries conducted by the party were anything to go by, the direct primary that ought to cure the ills of indirect primary – where delegates are induced to elect the party’s candidate – turned into a nightmare.

While some aspirants were rigged out, some were favoured by the rigging system; whereas the process was peaceful  and seamless in some cases. So, it was a mixed fortune.

For instance, in Delta State, the former Governor of the state, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa claimed victory against Senator Ned Nwoko after the primary election of Delta North Senatorial district. Okowa, according to the results announced, overwhelmingly defeated incumbent Nwoko, polling 113,309 votes against Nwoko’s 2,612 votes. Nwoko wasted no time in cautioning those celebrating the victory to exercise restraint in order not to  run foul of the law. He said the results of the election could only be announced by the national headquarters of the party in Abuja.

Nwoko was of the opinion that all the aspirants in the elections have their strongholds and announcing partial results amounted to half truths which are embellished lies capable of misleading the public.

Similarly, in Delta Central, Senator Ede Dafinone scored 116,252 votes to defeat former Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, who polled 3,643 votes.

In Ondo State, a House of Representatives aspirant, Wale Omoniyi, who contested the primaries for the Okitipupa/Irele Federal Constituency seat rejected the exercise, saying no valid primary election took place across the 23 wards. He described reports suggesting that a successful primary election was conducted in the constituency as “a sham.”

The story was not different in Balanga and Billiri local government areas of Gombe State. Across the wards of the federal constituency, party members and delegates waited in vain. No accreditation officers came. No ballot papers were distributed. No counting took place. Interestingly, hours later, a returning officer — identified by aggrieved aspirant, Alfred Attajiri, as former Gombe State commissioner  — walked to a microphone and announced results.

Attajiri, in a statement described what happened as an “invisible election,” insisting that no legitimate primary election was conducted in Balanga and Billiri before the declaration of results.

“It is deeply disturbing that results were announced for a process that never held across our constituency”, pointing to video footage, photographs and eyewitness testimonies as his evidence,’’ he noted.

Similar desperation was also on display in Adamawa state where aggrieved aspirants from the Southern Senatorial Zone staged a peaceful protest against the alleged imposition of a House of Representatives candidate for Demsa, Numan and Lamurde Federal Constituency, Kwamoti Laori.

The demonstration took place in Numan, where dozens of aspirants, party members and supporters gathered at the APC Zonal Secretariat carrying placards with inscriptions such as “No to Imposition,” “Allow Free Primaries,” and “Let the People Decide.” Their protests did little or nothing to dissuade the kind of unpalatable situation that was witnessed.

Yola North, Yola South and Girei Federal Constituency of Adamawa state also witnessed death of democracy. An aspirant, Ahmadu Nasara  described what happened as “the end of democracy in Nigeria,” accusing the committee of reading someone’s script which does not represent the will of the electorate.

In Lagos, the home state of the president, the irregularities that marred the shadow election were taken to another level.  The APC House of Representatives primary election conducted across the 245 wards in the State was chracterised by allegations of irregularities, voter intimidation and disruptions in several polling centres.

Incidents of tension and disorder were also reported in parts of Lagos Mainland, including Apapa Road, Makoko, Iwaya and Adekunle, where some party members and delegates were allegedly prevented from participating freely in the exercise.

One aggrieved party member captured the mood succinctly: “We reject whatever outcome emerges from today’s election because the process was flawed and manipulated.”

The outcome, which in most cases were in favour of the incumbent were beyond human comprehension. If the results of the House of Representatives primaries were magical, that of the Senate was nothing short of miracle.

In Imo West, Governor Hope Uzodimma polled a total of 230,464 votes to defeat former Governor Rochas Okorocha, who scored 1,098 votes.

The same magic was replicated in  Kogi Central, where former Governor Yahaya Bello – who was allegedly not screened – polled 72,399 votes across the district, scoring 18,341 votes in Adavi LGA, 10,298 in Ajaokuta, 5,146 in Ogori/Magongo, 8,943 in Okehi, and 29,621 in Okene LGA.

Abia North was also not without a testimony of miracle as Senator Orji Uzor Kalu secured a landslide victory with 65,651 votes.

With the proven mathematical proficiency and the magical manouvre, snatch and run electoral skills of some APC’s stalwarts proven during the primaries, the question on the lips of many is will the 2027 polls be free, fair and credible?.