The APC Primaries election has come and gone but many are yet to come to terms with the out of the primaries as many turn to the panel set for justice. The outcome of the panel hearing seems to still augur well with may as some top gun could not scale through. Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun, former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman Nuhu Ribadu, Senator Magnus Abe and President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife’s brother are among the big losers as the All Progressives Congress (APC) Appeals Panel submitted its report yesterday.
Also, Niger Delta Affairs Minister Usani Uguru Usani failed to upturn the outcome of the Cross River State governorship primary.
Mrs Buhari’s brother Mahmoud Halilu (aka Modi) and President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) Bala Bobboi Kaigama also lost the opportunity to have their candidates returned as party standard bearers.
There was tension at the national headquarters of APC as aspirants for the Senate and House of Representatives sought information on who- is-who on the list being taken to the INEC.
The party’s Director of Organisation, Alhaji Abubakar Kari, at about 2pm, led some officials in a branded APC bus to submit the list of candidates to INEC.
The two petitions against the governorship primaries in Rivers by Senator Abe and Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs were not upheld. The petition from Delta State by Prof. Pat Utomi was dismissed and tagged “overtaken by event”.
From Borno, there were four petitions against the conduct of the governorship primary. The committee recommended that a consensus option be explored to be driven by the National Chairman in consultation with the President.
It was also gathered that majority of the petitions against the conduct of the Senate and House of Representatives primaries were not upheld for various reasons, ranging from lack of merit and lack of proof to lack of time for fresh primaries. No reasons were adduced for not upholding some others.
Similarly, some petitions were upheld and some of the petitioners declared as candidates of the party either because they actually won the primaries and were substituted or for other reasons ranging from lack of clearance and others that were not adduced by the committee.