By Jude Opara (Abuja), Femi Oyelola (Kaduna), Yakubu Mustapha (Minna)
The proposed primary election in some Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was stalled as stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) failed to reach an agreement after three days of intense negotiations.
The stalemate was recorded in Abaji, Kwali, Gwagwalada, and Kuje Area Councils over the alleged imposition of a consensus candidate for the Abuja South Federal Constituency and the only senatorial seat in the territory.
As early as 8:00 AM on Saturday, party stakeholders gathered at voting points in the four area councils to cast their ballots for the contestants.
However, they were forced to disperse at about 4:00 PM after officials who were supposed to conduct the election failed to show up at the venues.
Speaking with newsmen, the outgoing Executive Chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council, Alhaji Abubakar Jibrin Giri, said consensus will not work in the FCT. He also accused recent defectors from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of using the method to grab power through the back door.
Giri, who is an aspirant for the House of Representatives seat, vowed that members of the party would resist attempts to bypass due process and impose any unpopular aspirant on the party.
He insisted that the four aspirants contesting for the House of Representatives seat in the zone must be allowed to face the ballot, adding that whoever wins should be supported as the party’s candidate in the 2027 general elections.
Giri further accused the incumbent lawmaker, Hon. Abdulrahman Ajiya, of doing nothing for the constituency.
He promised to make a huge difference if elected by making himself accessible to the people, improving their welfare, and attracting modern infrastructural development to the Gwagwalada Area Council and other parts of the federal constituency.
Similarly, speaking in a separate interview, the former FCT Commissioner for the National Population Commission (NPC), Hon. Joseph Shazin Kwali, advised the leadership of the party to abide by the wishes of the people and allow a free and fair primary election in Abuja South.
According to him, consensus arrangements are fraught with danger and may force many people out of the party.
“The people are willing to elect their favourite candidate. This can be seen from the large turnout at the Pilot Science Primary School, Kwali, but there are no officials to conduct the election.
“Meetings are still going on about producing a consensus candidate, but from my interactions with the aspirants, it might not be possible to have one. So, people should be allowed to vote for the person they want,” he stated.
Crisis Escalates in Kaduna
In Kaduna, a major internal crisis also hit the exercise as 11 frontline National Assembly aspirants openly revolted against the party leadership and state executive over the conduct of the primaries.
The aggrieved politicians, operating under the aegis of the Coalition of Kaduna Senatorial and House of Representatives Frontline Aspirants (CKFA), have formally petitioned the National Chairman of the APC, Prof. Nantawe Yilwatda.
They alleged that the state government used heavy-handed tactics to impose unpopular candidates.
The political rift escalated significantly in the Kaduna Central Senatorial District, where a consensus committee headed by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, collapsed. Frontline aspirants Yusuf Zailani and Yerima Shettima reportedly rejected the committee’s arrangement, aggressively demanding a transparent election instead.
According to the petition signed by key stakeholders—including Senator Danjuma Laah, Rt. Hon. Yusuf Bala Ikara, and Michael Ayuba Auta—the committees overseeing the process claimed they were executing “directives from the Kaduna State Governor.”
Meanwhile, in a sign of widening cracks within the party structure, the state APC executive reportedly distanced itself from the House of Representatives primaries held on Saturday, May 16.
The coalition further alleged that the fundamental rights of party members were trampled upon, as proper primaries were never conducted.
Instead, consensus candidates were said to have been announced without the mandatory written consent of all cleared aspirants—a move they insist directly violates Article 20 of the APC Constitution. Similar protests also erupted from aspirants in Kaduna North and Kaduna South.
It is expected that the battlefield will shift to the National Secretariat, as the aggrieved aspirants and their supporters have vehemently refused to accept the outcome of the now-disputed primaries. Refusing to accept the results, the 11 signatories have called on the national leadership to intervene before the crisis destroys the party’s cohesion ahead of the general elections in 2027.
The coalition is demanding the total nullification of the flawed consensus declarations and the May 16 House of Representatives primaries, insisting that only a fresh, direct voting process will restore peace and legitimacy to the Kaduna APC.
Similar Discontent in Niger State
The story was no different in Niger State, where the primary was equally disputed in many places.
An aspirant for the Magama/Rijau federal constituency of the state, Shehu Samaila Auna, has rejected the alleged imposition of one contestant, Professor Yakubu Auna, as the consensus candidate.
In a statement issued and made available to journalists in Minna, Samaila Auna described the exercise as a unilateral decision that does not reflect the collective will of the people of the constituency and should, therefore, be discarded.
He called on the National Working Committee (NWC) and the State Executive Committee of the APC to set aside the unilateral choice of Professor Yakubu Auna and order the immediate conduct of a Direct Primary Election in the Magama/Rijau Federal Constituency.
According to him, Article 20 of the APC Constitution mandates democratic processes for candidate selection, while Section 84(9) of the Electoral Act stipulates that for a consensus candidate to emerge, there must be written consent from all cleared aspirants.
He said: “No such agreement was reached. The choice of Professor Yakubu Auna as a candidate was a unilateral decision that does not reflect the collective will of the constituents, hence the need for a reversal in the interest of fairness, justice, and the victory of the APC in the 2027 General Elections.
“I categorically reject his adoption as the ‘consensus’ candidate. An imposition under the guise of consensus is a violation of the Electoral Act and the party’s Constitution.”
The aspirant expressed worry that given the current insecurity bedeviling local communities, the imposition of a candidate would further aggravate tension in the area.
He called on the state government and the APC leadership to urgently look into the matter.
However, Samaila Auna, who promised to remain a loyal party member committed to the success of Governor Mohammed Umar Bago’s administration, maintained that loyalty must be met with equity.
He urged the party to provide a level playing field to prevent internal fragmentation that could jeopardize the APC’s chances at the polls.
Meanwhile, from all indications, the bottlenecks witnessed during the House of Representatives primaries may repeat themselves during the Senatorial primaries scheduled to hold on Monday across the country.
This is because, as of press time, the party was yet to make public the names of the committee members tasked with conducting the exercise.
