Several serving senators of the ruling All Progressives Congress failed to secure return tickets during the party’s primaries held yesterday ahead of the 2027 National Assembly elections, as provisions contained in the amended Electoral Act 2026 turned against some of the lawmakers who had earlier supported the legislation.
According to The Guardian, one of the major casualties of the exercise was Senator Ned Nwoko, who lost the APC senatorial ticket for Delta North to former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa by a significant margin.
In Edo South Senatorial District, Senator Neda Imasuen was defeated by former House of Representatives member Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama during the party primary.
Also in Kogi East Senatorial District, Senator Jibrin Isah, widely known by the nickname Echocho, lost his bid for renomination after he was defeated by Dr Erico Ameh.
Apart from those who lost during the primaries, several serving senators were unable to participate at all after they were screened out before the exercise commenced.
Among those disqualified at the screening stage were Senator Ipalibo Banigo, Senator Benson Agadaga, and Senator Abdulhamid Madori.
Earlier in April, when the House of Representatives introduced a proposal seeking to criminalise dual membership of political parties, many lawmakers within the APC believed the move was mainly designed to prevent defections by opposition politicians ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The development came after the political upset caused by former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, who left the Peoples Democratic Party for the Labour Party shortly before the 2023 presidential election and later emerged as a major contender during the polls.
In a bid to stop a repeat of such late political realignments, the National Assembly, working alongside the APC-led executive arm of government, introduced wide-ranging amendments to the Electoral Act 2026 aimed at tightening regulations surrounding party membership and nomination processes.
Public attention at the time largely centred on the exclusion of electronic transmission of election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s IReV portal, as well as provisions limiting judicial intervention in electoral disputes. However, lawmakers also quietly inserted tougher anti-defection clauses into the amended legislation.
Under the revised Section 83 of the Electoral Act, politicians were prohibited from changing political parties after membership registers had already been submitted to Independent National Electoral Commission for the same election cycle.
Believing that the amendment would mainly affect Mr. Peter Obi and other opposition politicians seeking alternative political platforms, lawmakers reportedly passed the provision during a single plenary sitting held on March 11, 2026.
However, the outcome of yesterday’s primaries showed that some of the strongest backers of the law had now become some of its earliest and biggest victims.
Despite the setbacks suffered by several senators, a number of serving lawmakers successfully secured return tickets either through direct contests or consensus arrangements.
Among those returned were the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, who reportedly polled 121,425 votes in Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin in Kano North Senatorial District, and Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele in Ekiti Central Senatorial District, all of whom emerged victorious in the APC primaries….See More
