By Frontline Reporters
Fresh cracks have emerged within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) following the submission of its revised list of National Assembly candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with disgruntled aspirants heading to court and party stakeholders warning that unresolved grievances could threaten the party’s unity ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The party, however, dismissed concerns over the controversy, insisting that the issues arising from the revised list are internal matters already being addressed through established party mechanisms.
One of the aggrieved aspirants, former senator representing Ekiti North, Ayo Arise, confirmed that he had instituted legal action to challenge the outcome of the APC senatorial primary in the district, maintaining that he was the rightful winner of the exercise.
Arise explained that he filed his suit immediately after the primary because he understood the timelines stipulated in the Electoral Act and anticipated the eventual exclusion of his name from the party’s final list.
According to him, the legal challenge is aimed not at advancing personal ambition but at compelling political parties to respect their own rules and uphold democratic principles.
“I went ahead and filed my case because I knew what was coming. This is not about me; it is about ensuring that we have a system that works for everybody,” Arise said, expressing confidence that the courts would restore his mandate since, according to him, he won the primary convincingly.
Meanwhile, political stakeholders in Okeigbo, Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State, have called for a new representative for the Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo/Odigbo Federal Constituency, accusing the incumbent lawmaker of failing to provide effective representation or attract meaningful development to the area.
In a statement issued on their behalf in Abuja by APC chieftain Fayemisi Tosin, the stakeholders lamented years of inadequate federal presence, worsening infrastructure, youth unemployment and the neglect of critical projects, including the deteriorating Okeigbo-Ifetedo Bridge linking Ondo and Osun states.
They threw their weight behind Simisola Fajemirokun-Ajayi, who contested the APC House of Representatives primary, urging the party’s national leadership to recognise her as the rightful candidate for the constituency.
The latest controversy follows sweeping changes made by the APC to its National Assembly candidates’ list after the party’s Primary Election Appeal Committee reviewed petitions arising from the primaries.
The revised list, transmitted to INEC in a letter jointly signed by APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, and National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, reportedly replaced several candidates, including former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam, former House of Representatives member Gbenga Elegbeleye and 19 House of Representatives candidates across Benue, Kogi, Ondo, Taraba, Niger, Kwara, Kaduna, Abia and Ebonyi states. Benue recorded the highest number of substitutions.
Reacting to the development, APC chieftain Cletus Obun cautioned against replacing candidates outside the outcome of duly conducted primaries, stressing that INEC had made it clear that only candidates who emerged through monitored primaries could be validly nominated.
He warned that any attempt to impose candidates who did not participate in the primaries could expose the party to serious legal challenges, recalling how the APC lost all elective positions in Zamfara State after the courts invalidated its nominations over flawed primary processes.
“If anybody anywhere in the party wants to sabotage the APC by importing candidates who never emerged from valid primaries, such a person should be seen as a saboteur,” Obun said.
Obun, who disclosed that he also lost out during the appeal process in Cross River State despite spending over two decades building the party, described himself as “deeply injured” by the outcome but vowed to remain loyal to the APC.
He urged the party leadership to immediately establish a reconciliation committee to address mounting discontent among loyal party members, warning that unresolved grievances across the APC’s political structures could become a major liability as preparations for the 2027 elections gather momentum.
Responding to the controversy, spokesman for the APC National Chairman, Abimbola Tooki, said the issues surrounding the revised candidates’ list remained an internal affair and would be resolved through the party’s established processes.
“It is an internal process, and it will be sorted out internally,” Tooki told Frontline Reporters.
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