APC primaries marked by consensus, protests across states

Primaries of the All Progressives Congress held across several states on Wednesday produced a mix of returning and new candidates through consensus and direct primary elections, amid protests and allegations of irregularities in some areas.

In Kaduna State, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Dahiru Liman; Deputy Speaker, Magaji Danjuma; and Majority Leader, Munira Tanimu, secured APC tickets for the 2027 state assembly elections through consensus affirmation exercises held across the state.

The lawmakers emerged unopposed during separate primary exercises conducted in their constituencies.

Liman was unanimously affirmed as the APC candidate for Makera State Constituency during the party’s primary exercise attended by party leaders, electoral officials and supporters.

Declaring the result, the Returning Officer, Ezekiel Samuel Gode, said the Speaker emerged as the sole consensus candidate after securing affirmation across the five voting areas in the constituency.

“Having received the affirmation results from the five voting areas and with no other contestant in the race, I hereby declare Rt. Hon. Liman Tahiru, as the duly returned and affirmed candidate for the Makera State Constituency seat,” he said.

Similarly, Danjuma emerged as the APC candidate for Kagarko State Constituency after party members across the wards endorsed him in an uncontested exercise.

The APC Returning Officer, Abdulrahman Apo Jere, formally declared Danjuma the winner at the local government collation centre following the affirmation process.

Also, Tanimu clinched the APC ticket for Lere East Constituency after an affirmation exercise conducted across the constituency’s six wards.

Meanwhile, several APC aspirants for Kaduna State House of Assembly seats withdrew from the race and endorsed consensus candidates.

Speaking on behalf of the aspirants, Abdulrazaq Shuibu Labbo, an aspirant for Kaka/Gogi constituency in Birnin Gwari, said the decision followed consultations and interventions by Governor Uba Sani.

“We stand in full solidarity with the progressive leadership of Governor Senator Uba Sani and reaffirm our unwavering commitment to his successful re-election and the overall victory of the APC in Kaduna State and across the nation,” he said.

In Kogi, Emmanuel Obaro clinched the APC ticket for Yagba East State Constituency after winning all 10 wards in the direct primary election held on Wednesday.

Party stakeholders described the outcome as a reflection of Obaro’s grassroots mobilisation and performance in office.

In Lagos, Ganiyu Egunjobi emerged as the APC candidate for Agege Constituency I, while Azeez Oladapo Yusuf secured the ticket for Agege Constituency II.

The results came as Mudasiru Obasa secured the APC ticket for Agege Federal Constituency.

However, the Lagos primaries were overshadowed by controversies following the defeat of actor-turned-lawmaker Desmond Elliot in his bid to return as a member representing Surulere Constituency I in the Lagos State House of Assembly.

Barakat Bakare defeated Elliot by a wide margin in a contest marred by allegations of intimidation, exclusion and procedural irregularities.

Bakare, believed to enjoy the backing of Femi Gbajabiamila, polled 11,355 votes across six wards, while Elliot secured 270 votes.

Elliot rejected the process and withdrew his agents from the venue midway through the exercise.

“When I entered, I discovered that all my supporters were outside. They weren’t being allowed in,” he said.

“The next thing I heard was that in 20 minutes, they were going to stop the process. How can you stop in 20 minutes?”

He alleged that the process was characterised by intimidation and violence.

“Thank God nobody was killed, but a lot of people were injured. There are videos of people going to the hospital,” Elliot added.

In Ikeja Constituency I, Adeseyi Lawal emerged unopposed during a party affirmation exercise attended by party leaders, delegates and supporters.

In Delta, Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Emomotimi Guwor, emerged as the APC candidate for Warri South-West Constituency.

Other winners included Orobosa Ashakah in Isoko North Constituency, Lucky Idhoveh in Isoko South Constituency I, and incumbent lawmaker Ferguson Onwo in Isoko South Constituency II.

Deputy Speaker of the Delta Assembly, Arthur Akpowowo, also secured victory for Ethiope East Constituency.

In Ogun, the House of Assembly primaries were held peacefully across the 26 state constituencies.

Governor Dapo Abiodun, who participated in the exercise in Ikenne Local Government Area, described the primary election as peaceful, transparent and reflective of internal democracy.

The Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Daisi Elemide, secured 2,115 votes during the consensus exercise in Odeda Local Government Area.

In Edo, Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Atu Osawonyi, lost his re-election bid to Ikpomwonsa Aitusi.

Former Deputy Speaker, Yekini Idiaye, representing Akoko-Edo I, also lost the APC ticket to Humphrey Adewunmi.

However, Speaker of the Edo Assembly, Blessing Agbebaku, won his primary election.

In Benue, the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Lami Danladi-Ogenyi, won the APC primary for Ado State Constituency after polling 7,132 votes.

Meanwhile, former Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Hyacinth Dajoh, withdrew from the APC primary election for Gboko West State Constituency over alleged irregularities and lack of transparency.

Dajoh later defected to the Peoples Democratic Party, according to allies of former governor Samuel Ortom.

In Kwara, the APC cleared all 159 aspirants contesting for tickets to the State House of Assembly after reversing an earlier screening outcome that disqualified more than half of the contenders.

The revised list included Speaker Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, who had not initially appeared among the cleared aspirants.

The reversal followed anxiety and protests within the party over the earlier disqualifications.

However, some aspirants for the Ifelodun/Offa/Oyun Federal Constituency ticket rejected the outcome of the primary election held on May 16, alleging widespread irregularities.

One of the aspirants, Ademola Samad, accused party officials of conducting a flawed exercise.

“Our major concern is that across the Ifelodun/Offa/Oyun Federal Constituency, no election took place. There were irregularities across the board and protests in several places,” he said.

Another aspirant, Akeem Ayinla Ishola Balogun, faulted the alleged consensus arrangement adopted by the party.

“If this election is to stand, then it must be done democratically. The rules and regulations are there in the party constitution,” he said.

In Nasarawa, Governor Abdullahi Sule emerged the winner of the APC senatorial primary election for Nasarawa North Senatorial District.

Sule polled 47,393 votes to defeat former Deputy Governor of the state, Silas Ali Agara, who scored 2,915 votes.

The Returning Officer, Musa Shuaibu Guri, described the exercise as peaceful, credible and transparent.

Also in Nasarawa, former Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Faisal Shuaib, emerged winner of the APC primary election for Nasarawa West Senatorial District after polling 98,614 votes through affirmation.

In Ondo, APC aspirant for Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency, Monday Akinyomi, petitioned President Bola Tinubu over what he described as manipulation and hijacking of the party’s primary election.

In the petition dated May 18, 2026, Akinyomi alleged that the primary election scheduled for May 16 was not held because party officials failed to appear at the venue.

The aspirant warned that the alleged manipulation could undermine confidence in the party’s internal democratic process.

He appealed to Tinubu and the APC national leadership to intervene and ensure justice and fairness in the conduct of the exercise.

Petitions in Edo

Members of the House of Representatives, Esosa Iyawe and Marcus Onobum, as well as Senator Neda Imasuen, have submitted their

letter of protest in Edo State.

Iyawe said that he had to send his letter to the national chairman and secretary of the party after a futile attempt to submit to the appeals committee.

He said his complaint was predicated on the following grounds: “That the result declared by the electoral panel does not reflect the lawful votes cast during the primary election.

“That I validly had the most votes and won the election based on the collated results from the wards/polling units.

“That the declaration of another aspirant as winner was arbitrary, unlawful, fraudulent, and contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026 and the Constitution/Guidelines of the All Progressives Congress.

“That there were acts of result manipulation, suppression of genuine figures, violence towards my supporters (See pictures attached) and deliberate refusal to announce the true outcome of the election.”

He urged the committee to investigate the conduct of the primary election and the actions of the electoral officers involved and review the ward and constituency results submitted during the election.

On his part, Onobum, who lost the Esan West, Esan Central/Igueben ticket to Lucky Esegie, said the result was not a true reflection of what happened on the field.

The Edo assembly ex-speaker, in a petition to the APC primary election petitions committee, claimed that the outcome of the election in the 30 wards that make up the constituency indicated that he won, but that the committee sent to conduct the election announced Lucky Esiegbe as the winner.

Media aide to Imasuen, Moshood Kareem, confirmed that his principal submitted his petition to the party, noting that the effort to locate the appeal committee members was unsuccessful.

C’River aspirants reject result

Two APC aspirants for the Cross River Central Senatorial District, Eteng Jones Williams and Ms Mary Ekpere, rejected the results currently circulating on social media, declaring that no primary election took place across any of the 66 wards in the district.

The aspirants, in separate statements on Tuesday, urged their supporters and party faithful to disregard the purported results, describing them as fictitious and designed to cause division within the APC.

Williams, who monitored the process closely, said his team visited all 66 wards and confirmed that no voting occurred anywhere in the district.

“No election took place. There was no presence of party officials sent to conduct the primaries. My supporters and I kept vigil until 8:00 pm, yet no officials showed up,” he said.

Ekpere expressed disappointment at the alleged unfair treatment.

“As an aspirant, I neither saw the electoral materials nor was I allowed to cast a vote for myself. We are all members of this party and Governor Bassey Otu’s children. We only ask to be treated fairly and equally,” she said.

In Ondo State, an aspirant of the party in Ondo North Senatorial District, Mr Alex Ajipe, kicked against the outcome of the exercise.

In the results of the Ondo North, released by the Chairman of the National Assembly Primary Election Committee, Iboroma Harry Dabib, on Tuesday night, a former member of the House of Representatives, Mr Gbenga Elegbeleye, won the poll with 28,062 votes, while the incumbent senator, Olajide Ipinsagba, scored 9,819 votes.

Ajipe secured 17,313 votes, Adeogun Adejoro polled 3,845 votes, Tunji Muhammed secured 1,076 votes, while Michael Adeyanju recorded 640 votes.

Speaking with journalists in Emu Ile, Owo Local Government Area, on Wednesday, Ajipe, who is the convener of Ajipe Democratic Movement, alleged that the election in four out of six local governments of the district was not held in line with the party’s directive.

“What happened in the four Akoko LGAs during the primary was not an election. It was an allocation of votes in broad daylight.

“In Akoko South West, Akoko North East, Akoko North West, and Akoko South East, collation and returning officers deceived APC members to write results on plain sheets of paper with the promise of transferring them to the official result sheets at the LG collation centre. After collecting the papers, the officers disappeared,” he said.

Nasarawa APC members protest

Members of the APC from across the 13 LGAs of Nasarawa State protested the alleged irregularities during the just-concluded primaries of the House of Representatives and senatorial primaries conducted by the party.

The party faithful, who gathered under the aegis of Concerned APC Members, decried the actions of the National Assembly primary elections committee sent to the state to conduct the elections, noting that they were nonchalant in carrying out their assignment.

Spokesperson of the group, Abdullahi Yammani, stated this on Tuesday in Lafia while speaking with journalists at the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Nasarawa State council, shortly after the peaceful protest.

He said that, as concerned members and stakeholders of the APC, it became necessary to express their dissatisfaction over the way the exercise was conducted in some parts of the state.

According to Yammani, information available to the group revealed that in some wards within Lafia and its environs, election materials were either not supplied or arrived very late, making it impossible for party members to fully participate in the exercise.

He mentioned some of the affected wards to include Gayam, Akurba, Wakwa, Agyraragu, Assakio, Ashige, Shabu/Kwandare, Keffi-Wambai and Arikya wards, among others.

The spokesperson of the Concerned APC Members, therefore, noted that these developments had created tension and weakened the confidence of party members in the conduct of the primaries.

Jigawa affirms speaker, 29 others

The APC has adopted consensus to pick 30 flagbearers for the Jigawa State House of Assembly ahead of the 2027 general elections, as 18 incumbents return and 11 new faces emerge.

In the process, the Jigawa State House of Assembly Speaker, Haruna Dangyatim, emerged as the candidate for his constituency through affirmation ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The affirmation took place on Wednesday during the APC State Assembly primary election conducted across Jigawa’s 30 state constituencies.

Speaking to journalists shortly after his affirmation, Dangyatim said the process reflected the unity within the party in Jigawa and thanked the party members and officials for the confidence reposed in him.

“We are grateful that our people and the party officials sent from Abuja have affirmed my candidature for the 2027 election,” Dangyatim said.

However, APC Publicity Secretary in Jigawa State, Bashir Kundu, in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH via telephone, said the exercise was peaceful and followed the directive from the APC national office to adopt consensus where possible.

He read out the names of the successful candidates for the Jigawa State House of Assembly in the 2027 general elections.

“For Auyo, we have Haladu Bako Uza; for Babura, Kabiru Isah Babura; for Biriniwa, Hussaini Shareef Kirya; for Birnin Kudu, Sagir Yalwan Damai; for Buji, Saleh Baba; and for Dutse, Bala Ibrahim Yakubu.”

He continued, “In Gagarawa, Sani Mukhtar Madaka emerged; in Garki, Abdu Ila Muku; in Gumel, Sani Isya; in Guri, Usman Abdullahi Tura; in Gwaram, Ado Yakubu Zandam; and in Gwiwa, Aminu Zakari Tsubut.”

Kundu further stated, “For Hadejia, Bala T.O was affirmed; for Jahun, Ado Mai Unguwa; for Kafin Hausa, Yaro Muhammad; for Kaugama, Sani Saleh Zaburan; for Kazaure, Muhammad Inuwa Idris; and for Kiri Kasamma, Salisu Garba Kubayo.”

He added, “In Kiyawa, Yahaya Muhammad Andaza was confirmed; in Maigatari, Habu Muhammad; in Malam Madori, Hamza Adamu Babayaro; in Miga, Haruna Aliyu; in Ringim, Hamza Ustaz; and in Roni, Lawan Tambari.”

Concluding the list, the Publicity Secretary said, “For Sule Tankarkar, Kabiru Maitsamiya; for Taura, Dayyabu Shehu Gwalo; for Yankwashi, Ado Muhammad Zoto; for Kanya in Babura, Ibrahim Hashim Kanya; for Fagam in Gwaram, Yahaya Zakari Kwarko; and for Bulangu in Kafin Hausa, Gimba.”

Additional stories from Emmanuel Ande, Peter Dada, Emem Julius and Salisu Kabuga