The All Progressives Congress (APC) has directed all committees handling its ongoing primaries not to announce election results at the end of voting exercises.
The party’s National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Muhammad, issued the directive in a statement released on Sunday, warning that the practice of local announcements violates established party procedures.
According to him, some committees that supervised the House of Representatives primaries held on Saturday had already gone ahead to declare results at their respective locations, a development he said contradicts the party’s official guidelines.
The statement noted that the earlier announcements had triggered complaints from several aspirants who rejected the process, insisting they were unfairly denied victory.
The party further disclosed that the Senate primaries are scheduled to hold on Monday.
In a memo sent to all chairmen of the National Assembly Primary Election Committees, and copied to state chairmen, the APC leadership emphasized that there are clear stages for result handling, including ward collation, local government collation, constituency collation centres, and final submission to the national headquarters.
The memo stressed that no committee is permitted to brief the media in any state where it is assigned, adding that official briefings will only be conducted in Abuja after all results and reports have been submitted.
The APC, through the directive, warned all committees to strictly comply with the approved electoral procedures going forward.
