APC beats INEC deadline, uploads all candidates for 2027 elections

The ruling All Progressives Congress has completed the electronic upload of its candidates for all elective positions ahead of the 2027 general elections, beating the deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The National Chairman of the party, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, disclosed this on Sunday.

He described the early completion of the exercise as evidence of the APC’s organisational strength, internal coordination and preparedness for the elections.

The party’s announcement came as political parties raced to meet INEC’s deadline for the submission of candidates through its online portal.

INEC had initially fixed Saturday, August 8, 2026, as the deadline for the exercise but extended it by three days to Tuesday, August 11, following appeals from some political parties that were yet to complete their submissions.

Yilwatda said the APC had concluded its submissions before the original deadline, covering candidates for positions from the State Houses of Assembly to the presidential election.

He said the achievement demonstrated that the party had moved beyond political slogans to building the structures and systems required to run a nationwide political organisation.

“The APC has once again demonstrated that we are prepared for the responsibility of governing Nigeria. We did not wait until the last minute.

“We planned ahead, coordinated our structures and ensured that our candidates were successfully uploaded before the expiration of the original deadline. This is what organisation, discipline and responsible political leadership mean,” Yilwatda said.

The APC chairman, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki, said the exercise was a major test of the party’s ability to coordinate its structures, candidates and officials across the country.

According to him, the process involved the nomination, documentation, verification and electronic submission of thousands of candidates from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Yilwatda said the successful completion of the process was particularly “significant given the scale of the APC’s nationwide structure, which extends across senatorial districts, federal constituencies, local government areas and wards.”

He said the exercise required close coordination between the party’s national secretariat, state chapters, candidates and election management teams.

The national chairman also used the development to make a broader argument about the capacity of political parties seeking the mandate of Nigerians.

“Governance is not an experiment. The management of a country as complex as Nigeria requires planning, coordination, discipline, competence and the ability to deliver within deadlines.

 “If a political organisation cannot effectively organise its own internal processes, coordinate its candidates and meet simple statutory and administrative deadlines, Nigerians must ask serious questions about its preparedness to manage the affairs of the nation,” he added.

Yilwatda urged voters to look beyond campaign promises when assessing political parties ahead of the 2027 elections, arguing that internal organisation, compliance with electoral rules and the ability to manage people and resources should also form part of the assessment.

He said the APC’s early completion of the candidate-upload process should therefore not be regarded merely as an administrative accomplishment but as an indication of its readiness for the electoral contest.

The development also gives the ruling party more time, he said, to focus on other aspects of its preparations, including campaign coordination, candidate engagement, grassroots mobilisation, policy communication and reconciliation within its various structures.

“The work has only begun. Completing the upload ahead of schedule gives us confidence, but it also places a greater responsibility on us. We must remain united, disciplined and focused.

“We must take our message of Renewed Hope to every community and demonstrate to Nigerians that the APC is not only prepared to contest elections; we are prepared to continue providing responsible leadership for Nigeria,” he added.

The 2027 elections are expected to be fiercely contested, with opposition parties seeking to dislodge the APC from the presidency and make gains at the federal and state levels.

The APC’s candidate-submission exercise is one of the early statutory stages in the electoral calendar. Parties are required to submit details of their candidates to INEC within the period prescribed by the electoral timetable, after completing their internal nomination processes.

With the extension of the deadline to August 11, other political parties now have additional time to conclude outstanding submissions.

For the APC, however, Yilwatda said the focus had shifted to the next phase of preparations as the party seeks to consolidate its structures and defend its position ahead of the elections.

𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖/𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖