Politics
No Going Back: APC Declares Primaries Result Ahead 2027 Elections
The All Progressives Congress has finalised its list of candidates for the 2027 general elections and ruled out any review of the recently concluded primaries despite mounting petitions and protests by dozens of aggrieved aspirants across the country.
Sunday PUNCH findings revealed that the ruling party has concluded work on the results submitted to its national secretariat and is preparing to upload the names of successful candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission portal.
The development effectively shuts the door on fresh appeals and demands for fresh primaries by disgruntled members who have accused party officials of manipulation and imposition during the exercise.
The APC, according to a principal official of the party and another member of the National Working Committee, has neither altered nor is considering reviewing the results of the recently concluded primaries.
“We are not reviewing the results of the primaries. The timeline for primaries and appeals has already elapsed. We are waiting for the code to upload the results of the winners of the primaries.
Everything has been concluded. We don’t know anything about the review they are talking about,” the principal official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Sunday PUNCH on Friday.
INEC has fixed June 26 for the release of access codes to its nomination portal and July 11 as the deadline for the submission of candidates’ particulars for the 2027 general elections.
Appeals didn’t make any significant change’
No fewer than 54 serving federal lawmakers, including ranking senators and members of the House of Representatives, failed to secure re-election tickets during the APC primaries held between May 16 and 18.
Many of the aggrieved aspirants, particularly those who lost out in Lagos, Delta, Zamfara, Kogi, Rivers, Plateau and Osun states, have lodged petitions, threatened legal action and demanded fresh primaries.
When asked about reports of the primary election appeal panels set up by the party to address issues raised by aggrieved aspirants across the country, the party chieftain said, “From what I have seen, the appeal reports didn’t make any significant changes to the primary results because a lot of the petitions were found to be frivolous.
“But any appeal that was well made would have been considered. Some of the appeals are talking about zoning issues, which are pre-primary matters.
Some are talking about clearance, that somebody did not properly resign from the PDP before joining the APC. Is that a basis to challenge our primaries? Those are examples of frivolous issues people raised in their petitions.
“There are 109 senatorial districts and 360 House of Representatives constituencies, with thousands of House of Assembly seats. I can tell you that there is no appeal in the majority of these constituencies. So, where is the primary review report coming from? The results to be announced may not be different from what has already been known.
The petitions against Okowa and Chinda
Findings by Sunday PUNCH revealed that the senator representing Delta North Senatorial District, Ned Nwoko, is challenging the outcome of the APC primary in which he lost to the former governor of the state, Ifeanyi Okowa.
Nwoko, according to a party insider privy to the petition, is challenging Okowa’s victory on the grounds that the former governor did not resign from the Peoples Democratic Party before joining the APC.
Okowa joined the APC on April 23 alongside the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori.
Similarly, some aggrieved APC aspirants in Rivers State have reportedly challenged the emergence of Kingsley Chinda as the governorship candidate of the party.
Chinda, at the time he participated in the primary, was the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives representing Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency.
Apparently referring to the petition against Chinda, the APC official said, “Even in the Rivers case, the fact that a particular aspirant’s membership of the party is evidenced by his name on the register is sufficient, regardless of whether he is a minority leader or not.”
As far as the register of the APC is concerned, he’s a registered member of our party and he doesn’t need to announce the day he registered his membership after leaving the PDP. When Bukola Saraki resigned from the APC to rejoin the PDP, did he resign as Senate President? In any event, the issue of who is a member of a party is an internal matter. It is the party that will determine who its members are.”
Tinubu has yet to intervene – NWC member
This came as the other NWC member refuted claims that President Bola Tinubu had intervened in the crisis rocking the party after the primaries, describing the report as false.
He stated that the President’s intervention would have come before the conduct of the primaries to protect “his interest,” maintaining that neither Tinubu nor anybody from the Presidency had spoken with any of the party’s national officials on the need to review the outcome of the primaries.
Speaking about the controversies surrounding the party’s primaries in Lagos State, the APC official told Sunday PUNCH that all the individuals who emerged as candidates during the primaries had been confirmed and were ready to be uploaded to the INEC website as winners.
“Anybody who emerged in the Lagos primaries has emerged. Was the President not aware of any issue before their emergence? Lagos results are intact. Nothing has changed, and nothing will be changed.
Generally, we are not considering any review of the primary results. Maybe less than two per cent of the petitions filed by aggrieved aspirants succeeded. So, there is no change to the results with us,” he said.
When contacted by Sunday PUNCH, the National Secretary of the APC, Ajibola Basiru, declined to comment on the matter.
“This is an internal affair of our party; I can’t discuss that on the pages of a newspaper,” he said.
Similarly, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, neither answered calls nor replied to messages sent to him.
‘Powers that be’ preventing Tinubu from knowing the truth – Lagos aspirant
However, some of the aggrieved aspirants who spoke with Sunday PUNCH expressed optimism that Tinubu would intervene in the matter before the uploading of the primary results.
One of the aspirants, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Friday, blamed caucus politics for the outcome of the primaries.
“These issues did not just come up today, but for Lagos, naturally, Mr President will be interested. The powers that be are trying to ambush the President. It is a game of power and they are trying to prevent the President from getting the real picture of the situation.
“The way I know Mr President operates, even before he became President, he would listen to all sides and, on his own, investigate what happened and even go further to find out who the popular aspirant in that constituency is. For that, I am rest assured that the President will do the right thing.”
Another aspirant in the state warned the APC against proceeding with the results of the primaries, saying it could have a negative effect on the 2027 elections.
He said the APC should try as much as possible to be fair to the President by settling the crisis and allowing him to concentrate on governance.
“There were massive protests during the week at the party secretariat over the outcome of the primaries. All these are front-burner issues for Mr President now. There should not be a rift in the ruling party with all the economic and security issues that we are battling. If anybody should give Mr President peace now, it should be the APC.
“Some people will walk away from the party before the election, but the danger remains those who will stay within the party and work for the opposition. There are those who might just be indifferent on election day, and it takes the indifference of one member for the other party to wreak havoc on the day of the election,” the aspirant said.
According to a report by The Sun, on Wednesday September 23, 2026, a Federal High Court in Owerri, Imo State, has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to accept any candidate submitted by the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the Imo East Senatorial District ahead of the 2027 National Assembly election.
The judgment was delivered by Justice I. N. Oweibo following a legal challenge filed by five aspirants who contested the party’s candidate selection process for the senatorial seat.
The plaintiffs argued that they took part in the party’s preliminary activities after purchasing expression of interest forms and undergoing screening, they also claimed to have paid development fees required by the party, however, they maintained that no valid primary election was conducted to choose a candidate for the district.
According to the suit, the aspirants believed the process that produced the party’s candidate did not comply with the requirements expected for a primary election.
Before the court ruling, the NDC had forwarded the name of former Imo State Secretary to the State Government, Uche Onyeaguocha, to INEC as its candidate for Imo East, the electoral commission had already published his name among candidates expected to participate in the January 16, 2027 National Assembly election.
After reviewing the case, Justice Oweibo held that the party failed to conduct a valid primary election for the senatorial district, the court therefore directed INEC not to accept any candidate presented by the NDC based on the disputed process.
The decision has created a fresh challenge for the opposition party as preparations continue for the 2027 elections, unless the ruling is overturned or other legal steps are taken, the party may face difficulties fielding a candidate for the Imo East Senate seat.
From Opera News
The Federal High Court in Abuja has sacked Abubakar Babazango as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate for the Yola North, Yola South and Girei Federal Constituency of Adamawa State.
Daily Voice reports that the court also recognized Abubakar Bashir as the winner of the ADC primary election conducted for the constituency on May 21, 2026.
Justice Chigozie S. Onah delivered the judgment on September 17, 2026, in a suit filed by Bashir against the ADC, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Babazango.
The case followed a dispute over the outcome of the party’s primary after Bashir emerged as the winner, but Babazango was later submitted as the ADC candidate for the 2027 election.
Bashir won the primary with 33,931 votes, defeating six other aspirants. Zayyad Tumba came second with 16,266 votes, while Yusuf Garba polled 14,611 votes.
Abubakar Mohammed received 10,035 votes, Abubakar Gabdo scored 8,022, and Abdulaziz Abubakar got 4,501 votes. Babazango finished last with 4,359 votes.
Babazango had defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the ADC and was seeking to retain his seat in the House of Representatives.
After the primary, Bashir challenged the decision to submit Babazango’s name, alleging that his victory had been overturned despite him securing the highest number of votes.
The ADC denied any wrongdoing and maintained that there was no attempt to manipulate the primary result.
Bashir later took the matter to court, asking the judge to determine whether the nomination process complied with the Electoral Act, the ADC Constitution and the party’s guidelines.
He also argued that the party had no legal basis to replace him with an aspirant who did not win the primary.
In the judgment, Justice Onah ruled that the process through which Babazango was accepted and presented as the winner did not comply with the ADC Constitution and its guidelines.
The judge relied on Section 12 of the ADC Guidelines for the Conduct of Primary Elections, which provides for the circumstances under which a declared winner may be replaced.
The court found that a winner could only be replaced if the person died or withdrew from the contest. It further found that neither condition applied to Bashir.
The court consequently nullified Babazango’s nomination and ordered INEC not to recognise him as the ADC candidate for the constituency in the 2027 election.
The court also barred Babazango from presenting himself as the ADC candidate for the seat.
INEC was directed to recognize Bashir as the winner of the May 21 primary and as the ADC candidate for the House of Representatives constituency.
The ADC was similarly ordered to recognize Bashir as its duly elected candidate.
Justice Onah further ruled that the party must follow the Electoral Act 2026 and its own guidelines when conducting its nomination process.
Bashir had requested ₦25 million in litigation costs, but the court declined the request.
The judge instead awarded ₦1 million in costs against the ADC and another ₦1 million against Babazango.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said opposition to his proposed Rainbow Coalition by the Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, and the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, is not primarily about concerns that the group could weaken the All Progressives Congress (APC).Nigeria Market Research
Wike, who remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the statement on Monday while speaking with journalists during an inspection of ongoing road projects in the Federal Capital Territory.
The minister said he would provide further details about the disagreements during a television appearance later in the day.
Responding to suggestions that the coalition was being used to position him for the 2031 presidential election, Wike said it was too early to speculate about future political contests.
He also suggested that the question of who would succeed President Bola Tinubu could be contributing to the current political tension.
Wike said, “People take the position of God. First of all, you have to pray that you are alive. You must ask God, ‘Keep me alive till tomorrow. God, keep me alive till the next day.’ When God keeps you alive, then you now know what to do. How can you sit now and start planning for 2030, 31?.
“So, God is the one who says what will be. If one is alive, then you begin to see what we will do. In any case, what is wrong with assuming that I am positioning myself? But that is not correct. But you will hear the full details today about all these cries about the Rainbow Coalition.”
He said Tinubu, as a sitting President who would not be eligible to seek another term in 2031, would naturally have an interest in succession.
“I have always said, mind you, too, that by 2031, as a sitting president, he will not be running. So, the president must also have interest on who will succeed him. And will I be at loggerheads with what the president is talking about? But people don’t understand. They are just afraid of their shadows, not me,” Wike said.
Wike also referred to his participation in the 2022 PDP presidential primary, where he finished second behind former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
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