By Egena Sunday Ode
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe, has said the party has activated its internal conflict resolution mechanisms to swiftly address grievances arising from the ongoing primary elections.
Speaking with State House correspondents on Wednesday after a closed-door meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at his Lagos residence, Goshwe assured that aggrieved aspirants would be reconciled ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He noted that despite the competitive nature of the primaries, the APC has standing structures to prevent post-primary disputes from snowballing into full-blown crises.
“We have our internal conflict resolution mechanism that has prevailed over a period. We have the Presidential Conflict Resolution Committee, we have the Party Conflict Resolution Committee, and the party itself has been working to ensure that we reduce crisis as much as we can,” Goshwe said.
The APC chairman acknowledged that disappointments were inevitable in keenly contested races but maintained that the party would commence an “early healing process” to foster unity before campaigns begin.
“If you lose an election, it’s not a rare thing. The emotions, the sentiments, the fact that you feel you’re the best and then suddenly you’re not. The ill-feelings are sometimes there, but we’ll ensure that we have the early healing process so that we can work on the campaign process and emerge victorious across the country in 2027,” he added.
Describing the exercise as the most competitive in Nigeria’s political history, Goshwe linked the large turnout of aspirants to the party’s growing national acceptance.
“The assessment is very simple. You can see how competitive our party has turned out to be. We have few positions and thousands of people who have come to vie for these positions across the country, the most competitive ever in the history of Nigeria,” he said.
While admitting there were isolated complaints, he commended members for the largely peaceful and organised conduct of the primaries.
On concerns about consensus arrangements, Goshwe insisted the party adhered strictly to its guidelines. “Our guidelines on consensus are clear and our guidelines on direct primaries are also clear. Where consensus doesn’t work, you go for direct primaries,” he explained.
He added that aspirants who opted for consensus were required to sign consent forms indicating voluntary withdrawal in support of agreed candidates.
According to him, President Tinubu expressed satisfaction with the process, particularly the logistics and the reduced number of incidents recorded nationwide.
“This is the first time that we’re deploying a nationwide direct primary process. We printed our result sheets and put in place logistics exactly like what INEC does. The President was very impressed with the logistics we deployed across the country and the reduced number of incidents we have had,” Goshwe stated.
He also thanked the President for his continued support for the National Working Committee, noting that Tinubu had consistently backed decisions aimed at enforcing party regulations.
