Primaries: Tension in APC as aspirants reject ‘administrative fiat’

By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA — Fresh tension has gripped the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as winners of the party’s recently concluded primary elections accused the National Working Committee, NWC, of delaying the issuance of Certificates of Return amid fears of moves to alter the list of candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The development has unsettled victorious aspirants across the country, triggered quiet consultations within the party and fuelled growing suspicion that the outcomes of some primaries may still be overturned at the APC national secretariat despite winners already being declared by primary election committees.

The anxiety deepened after a memo to the APC leadership, signed by party chieftain Abdulazeez Mamman on behalf of other aspirants, warned against nullifying consensus and direct primary elections over what it described as the “premature announcement” of results before transmission to the NWC.

“The ballot is not a proposal. The will of party members expressed through consensus and direct primary elections is not subject to nullification by administrative fiat,” the memorandum stated.

The stakeholders argued that committees deployed to conduct the primaries acted as agents of the party under delegated authority and that the law does not empower the NWC to overturn concluded primaries simply because results were announced before transmission to the national secretariat.

Citing Section 84(14) of the Electoral Act 2022, they maintained that only the Federal High Court has jurisdiction to entertain disputes arising from party primaries, insisting that the NWC could not assume the role of an appellate tribunal over elections conducted by its own committees.

They warned that any attempt to alter outcomes declared at constituency levels could trigger a deeper internal crisis and destabilise the APC ahead of the 2027 elections.

Some of the aggrieved aspirants, who spoke on condition of anonymity, questioned why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had already received his Certificate of Return after emerging from the APC presidential primary while many other victorious aspirants across the country were still waiting for theirs.

“We participated in the primaries in good faith. Results were announced by the duly constituted primary committees and winners emerged. But weeks after the exercise, many of us are yet to receive our Certificates of Return.

“What is more troubling is the statement by some NWC members that the party leadership reserves the right to determine who becomes a candidate irrespective of who was declared winner by the chairman of the primary election committee. That statement is dangerous and undemocratic,” one source said.

The development has triggered consultations among affected aspirants, with some considering legal action if the party leadership fails to recognise the results declared by the various primary election committees.

Party sources, however, maintained that the NWC was still reviewing reports from the primaries and would take final decisions in line with the constitution and guidelines of the APC.

The APC leadership had earlier insisted that the NWC possesses the constitutional authority to ratify candidates for submission to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, irrespective of declarations made at the primary election venues.

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