Party says no appeal, may penalise resentful members
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has echoed a version of the biblical parable of the ‘Workers in the Vineyard’, whose central message is that “the first shall be last” in the Nigerian political space.
What started as a rumour and spread like wildfire across social media and later into mainstream media as Nigerians woke up on Monday became a reality when some previously declared winners of the party’s recently conducted primaries, especially for National Assembly seats, suddenly became losers.
The development came barely 48 hours after the APC stated that it had not released the official list of successful candidates from the primaries held recently.
APC National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka, in a statement on Saturday stamped “FAKE NEWS” in red, advised the public to disregard any publication or report purporting to announce the outcome of the primaries, describing such information as false and unauthorised.
The party said successful candidates would be duly notified through its official channels, after which Certificates of Return would be issued in accordance with established procedures.
The ruling APC urged all its members, stakeholders, and the general public to rely only on official communications from the party.
However, LEADERSHIP Weekend’s investigations revealed that, while the list had yet to be published, the APC had begun submitting the names of its candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2027 general election days earlier.
A list of candidates for Senate and House of Representatives seats was contained in a letter jointly signed by the APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, and the National Secretary, Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru.
The letter, dated June 29, 2026, was addressed to INEC Chairman Prof. Josh Amupitan.
The list, covering seven senatorial districts and 19 House of Representatives constituencies across the nine states of Kogi, Abia, Benue, Taraba, Ondo, Niger, Kwara, Kaduna and Ebonyi, followed the conclusion of the party’s appeals arising from its primary elections.
Consequently, a total of 26 high-profile aspirants, including former governors and members of the National Assembly, who had emerged as candidates in the primaries, were replaced by new flag-bearers in the affected constituencies.
In the letter to INEC, the APC said the replacements followed the recommendations of the party’s Primary Election Appeals Committee.
“We write to formally forward the attached list of the party’s candidates for the affected senatorial and House of Representatives constituencies arising from the report of the Primary Election Appeals Committee.
“The Reports of the Appeals Committee were reviewed and subsequently considered and approved by the NWC of the APC as the party’s final position on the affected constituencies,” the letter read in part.
The APC said the exercise complied with the Electoral Act 2026 and INEC guidelines, adding:
“We hereby transmit the enclosed list of approved candidates for seven senatorial districts and 19 House of Representatives constituencies for your records and necessary action.”
Winners and Losers
Prominent among those dropped are Sen. Gabriel Suswam (Benue North East), who was replaced by Sen. Emmanuel Udende; retired Assistant Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs, Benjamin Aber (Benue North West), who was replaced by Sen. Titus Zam; and Aro Samuel Bamidele, who was replaced by Sen. Sunday Karimi, the serving Senator representing Kogi West.
