APC defends post-primary candidate substitutions, says process was lawful

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has defended its decision to substitute some candidates after the party’s primary elections, insisting that the changes were carried out in accordance with its internal dispute resolution mechanism and did not violate the Electoral Act.

The party, however, maintained that no individual who failed to participate in the primary election process was declared a candidate.

The APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, made the clarification while responding to allegations that the party arbitrarily replaced candidates and handed tickets to persons who neither contested nor participated in the primaries.

Speaking during an interview on ARISE News, Morka disclosed that the party received more than 720 petitions from aggrieved aspirants following the conduct of its primaries.

According to him, the petitions were examined by the party’s appeal committees before being forwarded to the National Working Committee (NWC), which undertook a further review before approving the substitutions.

“We received over 720 petitions from those who contested in that election.

“These petitions were reviewed by the appeal committees. Recommendations were made to the National Working Committee. But the National Working Committee of our party, in its wisdom, also took responsibility to review the reports of the appeal committees and to re-evaluate those cases.

“And at the end of them, we made those changes that you are discussing. So these are legitimate outcomes of our primaries,” Mr Morka said.

Addressing claims that the substitutions breached the Electoral Act, the APC spokesman argued that the party’s primary election does not end with voting but includes an appeal stage through which disputes arising from the exercise are resolved.

“Primary election is a process. It’s not an event. The appeal process is an integral part of the primary election process. It’s not a separate process, and it’s not a process invented by the party to cause mischief,” he said.

Mr Morka also dismissed allegations that the APC awarded tickets to individuals who neither purchased nomination forms nor participated in the primaries.

He insisted that every candidate eventually nominated by the party emerged through the established primary election process, including the appeal mechanism, describing the outcome as legitimate and consistent with the party’s rules.