APC’s NASS Primaries Of Discontent

It is increasingly clear that the question troubling most Nigerians as we approach the 2027 election cycle is: Can the APC conduct a credible election? The simple answer is no. Hell no. The outcome of the ruling party’s primary election is merely a dress rehearsal for what Nigerians should expect in the 2027 polls. Open daylight rigging, hijacking of election materials, manipulation of the process, and blatant disregard for the electoral act have been the key features of the exercise so far. And the fact that the chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Joash Amupitan, is being accused of being an APC sympathiser makes the situation even more alarming.

Unarguably, the primaries of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the House of Representatives and the Senate did not spring many surprises. It has all the trappings and the imprimatur of the governing party: controversy, allegations of manipulation, and intrigue.

The ensuing discontent was quite localised, with power struggles erupting among incumbent state governors, returning legislators, and party bigwigs. Many sitting lawmakers seeking re-election failed to secure the party’s ticket. Some genuinely lost their constituents’ support. Others, to be honest, were outrightly rigged out because the party leadership never truly wanted them back in their positions in the first place.

The irony of their situation is unmistakable. These lawmakers now find themselves caught by the very law they helped to establish. They enacted an Electoral Act that effectively prevents politicians from switching parties after primaries to run under a different ticket in the 2027 elections. A good law is judged by how effectively it addresses an existing problem.

Can the NASS, in all honesty, say the passage of the 2026 Electoral Act was guided by genuine public interest, not politics? Does the Act benefit the majority of Nigerians or a narrow group?  What is unfolding, especially after the APC primaries, exemplifies one of those moments when a law enacted for selfish political reasons backfires. But that is what to expect from a National Assembly that has elected to do what pleases the executive at all times.

No sense of scrutiny

Whether one likes him or not, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has a firm grip on Nigerian politics and knows how to play the game very well. He has an uncanny ability to get his way. When he appeared before the joint session of the National Assembly of Nigeria to present the 2025 budget, he mistakenly said he was addressing the 11th NASS instead of the 10th. When the error was pointed out, he casually responded, “Which means you are all re-elected.” The chamber erupted in cheers.

It was obviously a joke. Nevertheless, the lawmakers took it almost as a political prophecy. From that point onward, many seemed to lose all sense of scrutiny. They became mere rubber stamps. Almost everything coming from the presidency was approved very quickly. They approved every loan request from the president, even when most Nigerians believe there is nothing to suggest that the previous loans were judiciously utilised. They looked the other way as the government continues to implement policies that are clearly ill-thought-out, pushing more Nigerians into poverty and exacerbating hardship. The lawmakers appear to be asking: after all, if re-election was already secured, why risk offending the president?

That mindset was evident in how the Electoral Act 2026 was handled. The lawmakers acted less as independent legislators and more as individuals eager to appease the presidency and the ruling APC leadership. Among the many contentious provisions in that law, the clause banning defection after primaries stood out as particularly mischievous. Yet they approved it nonetheless. Today, many of them are victims of that very clause.

The casualties

In the House of Representatives alone, over 30 members reportedly failed to secure tickets for re-election, including the Majority Leader, Julius Ihonvbere. In Nasarawa State, two active lawmakers loyal to the party leadership lost out. In Katsina, the APC consensus committee rejected seven lawmakers, including a senator. In Ekiti and Cross River, four lawmakers each were eliminated during the primaries.

After the Senate primaries on Monday, prominent figures such as former Gombe governor Danjuma Goje and Senator Ned Nwoko, both influential party members, are said to have lost. Goje is engaged in an ongoing struggle with Governor Inuwa Yahaya, who has exploited the state’s resources and party machinery to influence his (Goje’s) defeat. In Delta, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori mobilised the party machinery to fully support Ifeanyi Okowa and ensure Ned Nwoko is defeated at all costs. As you read this, Nwoko is fighting what he described as a brazen attempt to steal his victory. He insisted that he won, but the state is changing the results. In Ogun, Governor Dapo Abiodun effectively muzzled his predecessor, Gbenga Daniel, out of the race. All is fair in politics as in war.

Whether in Edo or Nasarawa, Delta or Gombe, the complaints of disregard for internal democracy and, most importantly, the 2026 electoral act trailed the APC primaries for the national assembly seats.

Many of the lawmakers who lost are now crying foul, complaining about irregularities and manipulation. Some claim they were unfairly excluded and would have tested their popularity elsewhere if not for the law they helped pass. Too late. They have realised that PBAT’s “you have all been re-elected” was never a promise. After all, it’s politics.

Used and dumped

The party leadership and the presidency used them when necessary. Now, many of them have been discarded. It is ironic that the lawmakers who supported every swift approval of PBAT’s requests and argued that the anti-defection clause was necessary to strengthen democracy are now victims. Today, that very clause has become their prison.

More than anything, the outcome of the APC primaries should serve as a lesson for current and future legislators, whether at the state or national level. Bills should not be passed based on primordial sentiments. As for the party leadership, it is not yet Uhuru. The party may have succeeded in trapping the legislators by tricking them into passing a law that makes defection after primaries impossible. It may have achieved its goal by ensuring that, after getting all it wanted from the legislators, it abandoned them. But it has no control over anti-party activities, and it must be cautious about that.

However, the controversies that followed the primaries should be a source of concern for Nigerians, as they are warning signs of what to expect at the 2027 general election.

Abba, Please Speak Out

Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has sent a clear warning to his political godfather and benefactor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso: do not push me to the wall. Otherwise, the people may begin to hear revelations. There is really nothing the citizens do not deserve to know, especially when it concerns governance and, by extension, how Kano’s resources were managed in the past. Governor Abba should make those revelations now.