The All Progressives Congress may trigger fresh controversy over its 2027 National Assembly primaries after restoring six serving senators to the party’s ticket, despite the earlier declaration of other aspirants as winners, according to The PUNCH, ABNTV reports.
The reversal, which affected nine states, came as the Independent National Electoral Commission declared on Wednesday that it would reject any candidate submitted by political parties whose names did not correspond with the outcome of primaries monitored and uploaded by the commission, raising fresh uncertainty over the APC’s revised nominations.
Documents obtained by our correspondents showed that the APC National Working Committee, acting on the recommendations of its Primary Election Appeal Committee, replaced winners of the May senatorial primaries in Kogi, Abia, Benue, Taraba, Ondo, Niger, Kwara, Kaduna, and Ebonyi, restoring several incumbent lawmakers whose initial defeats had sparked outrage within the ruling party.
The revised list restored the tickets of six serving senators, namely Senators Sunday Karimi (Kogi West), Emmanuel Udende (Benue North-East), Titus Zam (Benue North-West), Shuaibu Isa Lau (Taraba North), Adeniyi Adegbonmire (Ondo Central), and Olajide Ipinsagba (Ondo North), while Prince Paul Ikonne replaced Edinburgh Erondu in Abia South.
Ikonne is a former chief executive officer of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority.
One of the biggest casualties of the review was former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam, whose earlier victory in the Benue North-East primary was nullified in favor of the incumbent senator, Emmanuel Udende.
The development comes weeks after Senate President Godswill Akpabio assured senators who lost their return tickets during the APC primaries that the party leadership was engaging the National Working Committee and President Bola Tinubu to review petitions arising from the exercise.
Having secured the APC ticket for Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District through affirmation, Akpabio had admitted that the party was surprised by the high number of serving lawmakers who failed to secure return tickets during the primaries and expressed optimism that many of the disputes would be resolved through the party’s appeal mechanism.
The Senate President had said, “I felicitate, particularly, those who have secured their mandates to represent their parties in the next election. I know that there will always be victories and disappointments, yet above every individual triumph stands a greater triumph, the triumph of democracy itself.
“And in this Senate, we have promised that we will have very few disappointments, and I do know that the Senate leader and the leadership of the Senate are working very hard towards that, so in advance, I will say congratulations to all of us across party lines.”
More than 20 senators, mostly APC members, either lost their return tickets or were screened out during the party primaries.
Those affected included lawmakers who recently defected from opposition parties to the APC, among them Benson Agadaga (Bayelsa East), Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South), and Banigo Ipalibo (Rivers West).
Other prominent casualties of the primaries included Deputy Senate Leader Oyelola Ashiru, who lost the APC ticket for Kwara South; Ned Nwoko (Delta North); Neda Imasuen (Edo South); Jibrin Isah (Kogi East); Olubiyi Fadeyi (Osun Central); Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central); Gbenga Daniel (Ogun East); and Osita Izunaso, who stepped aside for Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma.
The APC’s latest review, however, benefited only a handful of those who had sought redress, leaving the political future of many other serving lawmakers uncertain as the party concludes its nomination process.
