APC Yet To Resolve Primary Petitions As INEC Portal Opens June 26

With four days to the opening of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal for candidate submissions, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is still working to resolve petitions arising from its primaries.

INEC has set June 26 for political parties to begin uploading candidate names for the 2027 general elections.

Although the APC concluded its primaries on May 30, the party has yet to release its final list of candidates or issue Certificates of Return to most winners, except its presidential candidate.

More than three weeks after the primaries, many aspirants for state assembly, National Assembly and governorship seats remain uncertain about their status.

According to Daily Trust, the uncertainty was heightened by comments from senior party officials that the National Working Committee (NWC) has the final authority to determine the party’s flag bearers.

Petitions Under Review

Findings showed that petitions were received from nearly all states where primaries were conducted, except a few states such as Kano, where most positions were settled through consensus.

A source at the APC national secretariat attributed the delay to unresolved petitions by aggrieved aspirants.

The source said most complaints had been addressed by the party’s appeal committees, but some cases from Lagos, Kwara, Kogi and other states were still being reviewed.

Asked why the party had yet to release the final list, the source said there was no rule compelling it to do so before submission to INEC.

Another party source said the list was largely ready and would be forwarded to INEC once the submission window opens.