Tension as APC allegedly begins to issue certificate of return to successful candidates

By Jude Opara

Anxiety is growing among the aspirants who contested the just concluded primary elections of the All Progressives Congress (APC ) as the party is been alleged to have started issuing forms to them, preparatory to forwarding same to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

It could be recalled that the party and the aspirants have been doing a kind of rat race over the publishing of the official list of candidates that will fly the party’s flag in the 2027 general elections.

While the party has insisted that it will only make public the official list after an evaluation of the entire exercise, some of the aggrieved aspirants have resorted to protests.

However, investigations by our Reporter revealed that the party has quietly started issuing forms to some candidates, ahead of the planned submission of the list to INEC.

Sources at the National Secretariait of the party revealed that the party is at the crossroads over how to handle the situation, given the fact that most of the aspirants who thought they may have won their primaries may not be getting the nod of the party.

One of the sources who pleaded anonymity revealed that the party has concluded arrangements to forward the list of its candidates, especially for the National Assembly seats to INEC and may likely not publish it as earlier promised.

It was further gathered that the leadership of the party is struggling to contain the expected barrage of criticisms and protests that may trail the publishing of the list, hence the resolution to send the list to INEC ahead of the June 30 deadline as provided in the electoral guidelines.

“The pressure is too much on the leadership of the party. They are trying to manage the crisis because there are claims and counter claims in some constituencies on who actually won the primaries. The signs are there that once the list is made public, there could be lots of protests from those who feel shortchanged,” the source added.

Already, the party has been flooded with protests and petitions from aspirants who alleged irregularities in the conduct of the primaries, particularly in the selection process for Senate and House of Representatives candidates.

The source added that some of the irate aspirants have expressly asked the party to refund the money they paid in securing the expression of interest and nomination forms. They argue that since the party had in mind those they wanted to give the tickets, they should not have asked them to buy forms.