2027: Can APC surmount replacement crisis?

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has once again found itself in a crisis owing to the last minute replacement of candidates initially believed to have won the National Assembly tickets of the party across the country.

Weekend Trust reports that within the last few days, the party has replaced six senatorial candidates from its final list submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and 19 House of Representatives candidates who emerged victorious during the party’s primaries.

Among those affected is a former Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswam, who had contested for the Benue North-East senatorial district ticket. Also replaced is a former member of the House of Representatives, Gbenga Elegbeleye, who had earlier emerged as the APC’s candidate for the Ondo North senatorial district.

The changes affected constituencies across nine states — Abia, Benue, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Ondo and Taraba.

The development has engendered fresh turmoil, threatening to tear the structure of the ruling party apart.

There were speculations that the Independent National Electoral Commission would intervene and order the party to revert to the names of the candidates earlier announced, with what looked like AI-generated posters of the statement shared on the social media.

The poster, which bears the commission’s logo and a photograph, has been widely circulated online amid the controversy surrounding the alleged replacement of candidates by the All Progressives Congress ahead of forthcoming elections.

But INEC disowned the media poster, claiming that political parties cannot replace candidates who emerged through “legitimate primaries” except in cases of withdrawal, death or court order.

When contacted, the Deputy Director of Publicity of the commission, Wilfred Osilama Ifogah, dismissed the poster as fake.

Weekend Trust’s check on the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 reveals that it clearly spells out the circumstances under which a political party may substitute a candidate whose name has already been submitted to INEC.

Section 33 of the act provides: “A political party shall not be allowed to change or substitute its candidate whose name has been submitted under section 29 of this Act, except in the case of death or withdrawal by the candidate, provided that in the case of such withdrawal or death of a candidate, the political party affected shall, within 14 days of the occurrence of the event, hold another primary election to produce and submit a new candidate to the Commission for the election concerned.”

Section 31 further prescribes the procedure for withdrawal, stating: “A candidate may withdraw his candidature by notice in writing signed by him, together with a sworn affidavit delivered personally by the candidate to the political party that nominated him for the election; and the political party shall convey such withdrawal and the sworn affidavit to the Commission not later than 90 days to the election.”

The clarification came as political parties continue to face scrutiny over candidate nominations and substitutions, with the APC recently attracting public attention over allegations of replacing candidates in some elections.Although Nigeria’s electoral laws provide circumstances under which a political party may substitute a candidate, such actions are governed by provisions of the Electoral Act and are often subject to judicial interpretation where disputes arise.

What we’re doing about it – APC

On what the APC is doing to address the backlash from the replacements, the party says it is planning to reconcile aggrieved members.

A source close to the national chairman of the party said they were considering setting up a reconciliation team to mend fences with those aggrieved in the aftermath of its primaries across the country.

The credible source within the party hierarchy told our correspondent Friday morning that the reconciliation team would be set up by its national secretariat to dialogue with some of the aspirants, especially those dropped following the report of the appeal committee set up for the primaries.

He said the team would be visiting the most affected states, including Ondo, Benue, Kwara, Kogi and Taraba, among others.

According to the source, there has been a directive from the Presidency to the national leadership of the party to immediately begin a reconciliatory move ahead of the general elections.

The source said, “You know some of the aspirants were dropped and this did not go down well with them. So, following the directive from the Presidency to begin the reconciliation process, the party is already considering a national reconciliation team that will interface with each of the aggrieved aspirants. I can assure you that this will be done soon, all things being equal.”

The national publicity secretary of the party, Felix Morka, had earlier told journalists that the party was focusing on uploading the details of its candidates onto the portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission. He added that the next step to be taken by the party would be decided after the uploading exercise is completed.

How fallout from consensus added to the crisis

Ironically, it was in order to avert crisis that the party resorted to consensus arrangement in many of the states to decide its flag-bearers. But many within the party maintain that it was the consensus arrangement and lack of proper handling of the direct primaries that led to the current unease in the party.

Our correspondents report that in many states, the aspirants did not agree with processes and even challenged the outcome, saying that what were presented did not represent the wishes of the party leaders.

The primaries brewed crisis in states like Oyo, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, Kwara, Nasarawa for the governorship tickets, while it led to disagreements for Senate tickets in states like Benue, Edo, Delta, Ekiti, Kogi and others; and in some instances leading to defections by aggrieved aspirants.

The National Working Committee of the party had tried to intervene, saying it had the right to determine the final decisions on the mater.

How the candidates are taking it

With the release of the report of the appeal committee of the party however, it was like pouring petrol into fire as it escalated the crisis, with many aspirants threatening to drag the party to court.

Senator Ayo Arise, whose name was omitted in the final list of candidates, made good his promise by dragging the party to court to challenge the outcome of the  Ekiti North senatorial district primary.

Speaking during an interview in Ado-Ekiti, Arise said his decision to institute legal action immediately after the primary was informed by his understanding of the timelines stipulated by Nigeria’s electoral act, noting that he was not surprised when his name was eventually omitted from the list of the party’s candidates.

In Taraba, Muhammed Kabir Badawaire whose name was replaced with incumbent Taraba North Senator,  Senator Shuaibu Lau has rejected the replacement which was announced recently by the National Secretariat of All Progressive Congress ( APC).

Badawaire, in an interview with BBC Hausa said as far as he was concern he is the winner of Taraba North senatorial primary election and he resist any move to change that position.

“ I reject  the replacement, though there is no  officially  letter sent to me by the All Progressive Congress notifying me of replacing my name with any person “ he said

According to him, he was not officially notified in written by his party of his  replacement if at all it was done.

He explained that he will not  disclosed his next line of action until when he is officially notified that he was replaced with another person.

In Kwara, one of the affected House of Representatives aspirants, Yinka Ahmed Aluko, declined to comment extensively on the reported replacement, saying the party’s national leadership was yet to issue an official statement on the development.

“The national has not issued any statement on the issue and we are waiting for that,” he said.

Also speaking on the development, another House of Representatives aspirant, Ismail Tijani, faulted the alleged replacement, describing it as a wrong decision that had further eroded confidence in the political process.

According to him, the development was not in tandem with the position of key stakeholders in the state, including the three senators, four members of the House of Representatives and nearly all members of the Kwara State House of Assembly.

“First and foremost, the wrong thing has been done and there is no integrity in the political space anymore. The three senators, four House of Representatives, including nearly all the House of Assembly members, have been pushed away and the entire stakeholders in Kwara are not in line with what is on ground.

“It is whatever they decide to do, including others, we will follow,” he said.

Despite his disappointment, Tijani expressed optimism that the situation could still be reversed, noting that there is still enough time within the constitutional timeline for changes to be made before the elections.

“It is not over because constitutionally, we can still make changes with 160 days to the elections. But I know that I was not defeated and it is the people who will decide for themselves,” he added.

In Benue State, our correspondent reports that supporters of Prof Iornem Kohol, one of the aspirants, staged public protests against the party’s decisions while the others have been mute over the development.

For the Kogi West senatorial district party primary, the incumbent Senator Sunday Karimi, who was earlier declared the winner of the election at the Kabba collation centre of the zone, raised the alarm few days later, saying it’s an attempt to manipulate the outcome of the APC senatorial primary election in the district that produced him as winner.

He noted in a statement that: “Out of nowhere, we started seeing a forged result parading an individual as the winner of the APC senatorial primary of Kogi West. This development shattered the existing joy and celebrations that followed the successful conduct of the primary election.

In his reaction, Senator Karimi sued for peace, stressing that there is  “neither victor nor vanquished,”  but only one party, one people and one common destiny.

“Political contests are temporary. Relationships, institutions and the collective destiny of our people must always endure beyond them. As is often the case in every democratic contest, emotions naturally run high and passions are deeply expressed. As our great party concludes this important phase of its democratic process, I give all glory to the Almighty God for his grace, strength and wisdom throughout this journey.”

However, all efforts to get the reaction of Samuel Aro, whose name was allegedly submitted in place of Senator Karimi was unsuccessful.

Sources close to him noted that the party chieftain was still studying the situation and would make his stand known in due course.

“Samuel Aro is presently consulting with critical stakeholders of the party within and outside the state over the development. He will break his silence once he is done,” an aide who asked to speak on the condition of anonymity said.

Meanwhile, several people raised concern over the unusual posture of Samuel Aro over the development.

Analysts said it’s difficult to see how the party would get out of the crisis before August when campaigns are expected to start as many would be compelled to take the matter to court.

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