Fresh controversy may be brewing in the All Progressives Congress over its 2027 National Assembly primaries after the party restored six serving senators to its ticket despite the earlier declaration of other aspirants as winners.
The development comes as the Independent National Electoral Commission warned that it would reject any candidate submitted by political parties whose names do not correspond with the results of primaries monitored and uploaded by the commission.
Documents obtained showed that the APC National Working Committee, acting on the recommendations of its Primary Election Appeal Committee, reviewed the outcome of senatorial and House of Representatives primaries in several states and replaced some of the earlier declared winners.
The changes affected Kogi, Abia, Benue, Taraba, Ondo, Niger, Kwara, Kaduna and Ebonyi states.
The revised list restored the tickets of six serving senators, namely Sunday Karimi of Kogi West, Emmanuel Udende of Benue North-East, Titus Zam of Benue North-West, Shuaibu Isa Lau of Taraba North, Adeniyi Adegbonmire of Ondo Central and Olajide Ipinsagba of Ondo North.
In Abia South, Prince Paul Ikonne, a former Chief Executive Officer of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority, replaced Edinburgh Erondu.
One of the major casualties of the review was former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, whose earlier victory in the Benue North-East primary was nullified in favour of the incumbent senator, Emmanuel Udende.
The reversal followed weeks of complaints by several serving lawmakers who either lost their return tickets or were screened out during the APC primaries.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio had earlier assured affected lawmakers that the party leadership was engaging the NWC and President Bola Tinubu to review petitions arising from the exercise.
Akpabio, who secured the APC ticket for Akwa Ibom North-West through affirmation, had said the Senate leadership was working to reduce the number of disappointed lawmakers after the primaries.
More than 20 senators, mostly APC members, lost their return tickets or were screened out.
Some of the affected lawmakers included those who recently defected from opposition parties to the APC, among them Benson Agadaga of Bayelsa East, Garba Maidoki of Kebbi South and Banigo Ipalibo of Rivers West.
Other prominent casualties included Deputy Senate Leader Oyelola Ashiru of Kwara South, Ned Nwoko of Delta North, Neda Imasuen of Edo South, Jibrin Isah of Kogi East, Olubiyi Fadeyi of Osun Central, Danjuma Goje of Gombe Central, Gbenga Daniel of Ogun East and Osita Izunaso, who reportedly stepped aside for Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma.
Party sources said the restoration of some lawmakers followed intense lobbying and interventions by governors, traditional rulers, party leaders and the Presidency as the APC moved to contain the fallout from the primaries ahead of the 2027 elections.
A senior party official said many serving APC lawmakers were still unsure of their fate because the final nomination process had not been fully concluded.
According to the source, several states were yet to return INEC nomination forms, while governors remained central to deciding who would receive the forms in many states.
The source said only senators cleared through high-level intervention stood a better chance of making the final list.
In Ondo State, party sources said President Tinubu and the APC leadership intervened in the dispute between Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa and the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, over control of National and State Assembly tickets.
A compromise was reportedly reached to balance the interests of both camps and prevent a deeper crisis within the party.
A similar arrangement was said to have been brokered in Benue State to manage the rivalry between Governor Hyacinth Alia and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume.
Under the reported arrangement, Governor Alia retained influence over State Assembly candidates, while Akume’s camp secured stronger control of National Assembly tickets.
Traditional rulers were also said to have influenced some decisions taken by the APC Appeal Committee.
In Taraba State, intervention by prominent monarchs reportedly helped Senator Shuaibu Isa Lau regain the Taraba North ticket after consultations with the party’s national leadership.
In Kwara South, party sources claimed that traditional rulers opposed the return of Deputy Senate Leader Oyelola Ashiru, citing dissatisfaction with his performance, a development that contributed to the party’s refusal to restore his ticket.
However, the APC’s revised list may face a major hurdle following INEC’s insistence that only candidates whose names correspond with the results of monitored primaries will be accepted on its electronic nomination portal.
INEC National Commissioner, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, said the commission had already uploaded the results of all primaries monitored by its officials.
He explained that political parties had collected access codes for online submission of candidates, but the system would automatically reject any name that differs from the results earlier uploaded by INEC officials.
According to him, the nomination process involves two stages. First, INEC officials who monitored the primaries upload the authentic results in collaboration with the commission’s ICT department. Thereafter, political parties submit the particulars of their candidates through the portal.
Haruna said if a party attempts to submit a name different from the one already uploaded by INEC, the portal will block the submission.
He said the safeguard became necessary following the candidate substitution disputes that trailed the 2023 general elections and ended in litigation up to the Supreme Court.
The commission maintained that only names matching the monitored primary results would be accepted.
INEC’s position has renewed attention on the amended Electoral Act 2026, which introduced stricter nomination procedures and curtailed post-primary substitutions.
The amendment to Section 83 also bars politicians from defecting to another party after parties have submitted their membership registers to INEC for the same election cycle.
The provision has left many lawmakers who lost APC tickets with limited political options ahead of the 2027 polls.
Across the states, the APC’s review produced mixed outcomes.
In Benue, Senators Emmanuel Udende and Titus Zam regained their senatorial tickets, while Suswam lost the Benue North-East ticket. Several House of Representatives members also retained or recovered their tickets, including Dickson Tarkighir, Sesoo Ikpagher, Terser Ugbor, Sekav Iyortyom, Austin Achado, Regina Akume, Blessing Onuh, Ojotu Ojema and Solomon Wombo, while Peter Egbodo emerged as the candidate for Oju/Obi Federal Constituency.
In Ondo, Senators Adeniyi Adegbonmire and Olajide Ipinsagba recovered their tickets after the party leadership intervened in the dispute among influential stakeholders.
In Abia, the APC retained Dr Eric Opah as governorship candidate, while Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, Emeka Atuma and Prince Paul Ikonne emerged as senatorial candidates after the review.
In Kaduna, the issuance of INEC nomination forms confirmed former Senator Shehu Sani as candidate for Kaduna Central, Senator Sunday Marshall Katung for Kaduna South and former Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero for Kaduna North.
In Ekiti, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, Cyril Fasuyi and Yemi Adaramodu retained their tickets, alongside House of Representatives members Sola Fatoba, Akin Rotimi and Femi Bamisile.
In Oyo, the APC confirmed that all three senatorial candidates and 14 House of Representatives candidates received nomination forms after presentation by the national leadership.
In Edo, former governor Adams Oshiomhole retained the Edo North ticket, Joe Ikpea secured Edo Central, while Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama emerged as the candidate for Edo South.
In Imo, Senator Patrick Ndubueze secured another ticket for Okigwe, while Senator Osita Izunaso stepped aside for Governor Hope Uzodimma’s governorship ambition. Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi opted not to seek another Senate term and instead moved toward the governorship race.
In Kebbi, Senators Adamu Aliero and Yahaya Abdullahi secured return tickets, while Senator Garba Maidoki failed to return after a reported disagreement with Governor Nasir Idris.
In Bauchi, the primaries triggered political realignments, with Senator Shehu Buba defecting to the Peoples Redemption Party after emerging as its governorship candidate, while Senator Abdul Ningi joined the African Democratic Congress and secured its senatorial ticket. Senator Sama’ila Dahuwa also left the APC after failing to secure its nomination and later obtained the PRP ticket.
In Borno, APC candidates for the three senatorial districts remained Kaka Shehu Lawan, Mohammed Ndume and Tahir Monguno, while the party retained most of its House of Representatives candidates.
In Gombe, Senator Hassan Dankwambo secured another PDP ticket for Gombe North, while former governor Danjuma Goje failed to secure the APC ticket for Gombe Central.
In Enugu, all three APC senatorial candidates, Kevin Chukwu, Ikeje Asogwa and Osita Ngwu, retained their nominations, though some House of Representatives candidates were replaced after the review.
In Kwara, the APC carried out a major overhaul of its National Assembly tickets, with all three serving senators losing out. Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq emerged as the party’s senatorial candidate for Kwara Central, displacing Senator Saliu Mustapha, while Prince Olalekan Sunday Adewoye replaced Deputy Senate Leader Oyelola Ashiru in Kwara South and Dr Muhammed Mahmud replaced Senator Sadiq Umar in Kwara North.
In Ogun, the APC retained only four of its nine serving House of Representatives members, while five new candidates emerged. Governor Dapo Abiodun replaced former governor Gbenga Daniel as the candidate for Ogun East, Shuaib Salisu retained the Ogun Central ticket and Jimoh Ojugbele emerged as the candidate for Ogun West following Senator Solomon Adeola’s emergence as the governorship candidate.
The APC’s post-primary review has redrawn the political map in several states, restoring some serving senators while ending the ambitions of others.
But with INEC insisting that only names matching monitored primary results will be accepted on its portal, attention is now expected to shift to whether the APC’s revised list will survive the commission’s verification process or trigger another round of pre-election litigation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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