Aspirants who lost out in the final list of All progressives Congress (APC) candidates for various positions have called on the party to tread with caution or risk losing its reputation as a united political party.
Reports indicate that the APC has since Monday morning started issuing nomination forms obtained from the Independent National Electoral Commission (,INEC) to its candidates to fill and in the process it was discovered that those whose names were initially announced as winners were replaced with others.
Our correspondents reported such cases in Kwara, Ondo, Benue, Kaduna and Kogi states.
Our correspondent in Kwara State reports that while the governorship candidate of the party was given the nomination forms, none was extended to the senatorial candidates as there are conflicting reports over who are the authentic candidates of the APC in the three senatorial zones.
Stakeholders in the party had on Monday, called on the national leadership of the party to review developments within the party, including the conduct and outcome of the governorship and legislative primaries, while advocating a transparent and inclusive process capable of strengthening party unity.
The controversy followed the dramatic developments during the APC governorship primary.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had initially announced Ambassador Yahaya Seriki as the party’s consensus governorship candidate; a move that was rejected by several aspirants and stakeholders, particularly from Kwara North.
Earlier after the primaries of the party, Senator Lola Ashiru was the one for Kwara South; Saliu Mustapha, Kwara Central and Umar Sadiq for Kwara North.
The trio were among the signatories to a resolution by aspirants over the choice of the governorship candidate of the party.
Unconfirmed reports however indicate that the names of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Prince Olalekan Adewoye and Dr Mohammed Umar Mahamud have been submitted by the APC as replacements for the serving senators representing Kwara Central, Kwara South and Kwara North, respectively.
If confirmed, the development would see Governor AbdulRazaq replacing Senator Saliu Mustapha, Adewoye replacing Senator Lola Ashiru and Mahamud replacing Senator Sadiq Umar.
However, the claim could not be independently verified.
Kwara APC chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, said the presentation of forms marked the final stage of the party’s internal process after the national leadership concluded deliberations on petitions arising from the primaries.
He explained that although candidates had emerged for the governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections during the party primaries, the state chapter was directed not to formally announce them until the National Working Committee concluded its review.
“The National Working Committee has gone through all the processes, especially the complaints submitted by aspirants. Those who had complaints ventilated them before the Appeal Committee, which also completed its assignment.
“The NWC has now cleared the candidates, and it is our responsibility to present the nomination forms for completion before they are uploaded to the INEC portal.”
