There are very strong indications that there are anxieties within the All Progressives Congress (APC) after most of the senators and members of the House of Representatives allegedly failed in the party’s primary elections.
Checks by Peoples Daily revealed that while the members of the National Assembly were said to have been promised by President Bola Tinubu that they would get their return tickets, several state governors who eventually took charge of affairs in their states did otherwise which led to many of the sitting lawmakers losing out.
This has ignited apprehensions in the leadership of the ruling party as the National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda and members of his National Working Committee (NWC) are under intense pressure from some of the aggrieved lawmakers who claim that the primaries were manipulated to ease the out.
Inside sources who have a grip of the events that happened before the primaries, said the President had reportedly urged the governors and the leadership of the party to work for the return of the incumbent senators, especially the first-term lawmakers who may not have had the opportunity to attract constituency projects and fully impact on their people.
It was further gathered that by the arrangement, the party intended to among other things ensure continuity, preserve legislative experience in the National Assembly and also enhanced the party’s chances in the forthcoming 2027 general elections.
However, the idea may have been defeated as the outcome of the primaries in several states seems to have departed significantly from that understanding, because a good number of sitting lawmakers lost their tickets because their state governors allegedly supported other aspirants.
“The idea was that first term senators should be given the opportunity to complete another tenure, because most of them may not have had sufficient time to deliver constituency projects and consolidate their representation in their constituencies. But sadly, some governors pushed their own agenda”.
It was further gathered that on daily basis aggrieved aspirants and their supporters have continued storm the National Secretariait of the party with complaints of how they were allegedly schemed out of the race by their state governors, despite the huge amounts of money they claimed to have spent.
“I must tell you that at the moment, the development has created a dilemma for the leadership of the APC, as most of the aspirants are demanding for a review of senatorial contests where the sitting lawmakers were defeated.
Already, the National Chairman of the ruling party is now reported to be in a huge dilemma over how to balance the interests of the contending forces within the party.
Meanwhile, there is concern that any attempt to change primary results could result in the governors and the victorious aspirants insisting that the results already announced must be sustained.
“The National Chairman is like in-between two contending forces— those insisting on the sanctity of the primary results must be preserved and those insisting that the already promises of the President must be respected”, added another reliable source at the party Secretariait.
The dispute has also reopened concerns over the growing influence of governors in the party’s internal affairs, with several APC leaders expressing fears that if not properly handled, could undermine the harmony in the party, in the buildup to the 2027 polls.
However, all efforts to get the reaction of the party to these issues were unsuccessful as the National Publicity Secretary (NPS) of the party, Barr. Felix Morka failed to respond to calls put to his phone.
