Some All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirants, who are seeking the party’s tickets to contest the National Assembly elections in Kaduna State, have rejected the outcome of the party’s primary elections held on Saturday.
The aspirants, under the aegis of the Coalition of Kaduna Senatorial/House of Representatives Frontline Aspirants (CKEA), alleged that the exercise was riddled with “widespread violations of the party’s constitution and nomination guidelines”.
They made their position known in a protest letter addressed to the APC national leadership and other relevant authorities, a copy of which was presented to newsmen at a press briefing in Kaduna on Sunday.
The aspirants alleged that the processes leading to the emergence of candidates for House of Representatives were marred by irregularities, “including imposition of candidates, lack of democratic voting and disregard for established party procedures”.
According to the coalition, the party leadership imposed “consensus” candidates without obtaining the mandatory written consent of cleared aspirants as stipulated in Article 20 of the APC constitution.
The group also claimed that no proper primary elections were conducted in the three senatorial districts, while party members were denied the opportunity to vote for candidates of their choice.
The aspirants further alleged that some committees handling the exercise claimed to be acting “under the directives of the Kaduna State Governor”.
They accused the state APC executives of failing to address concerns raised over the conduct of the exercise.
The aspirants described the primaries as “a complete sham” capable of undermining party unity and negatively affecting APC’s performance in the forthcoming general elections.
The coalition specifically cited the Kaduna Central Senatorial District where the consensus committee headed by the Deputy Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, attempted to impose former Sen. Shehu Sani as the consensus candidate.
The group said that two frontline aspirants, former Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Mr. Yusuf Zailani, and an activist, Yerima Shettima, rejected the consensus arrangement and demanded transparent primary elections.
The coalition added that similar complaints of imposition and lack of transparency were recorded in Kaduna North and Kaduna South senatorial districts.
The aggrieved aspirants urged the APC national leadership to nullify the consensus arrangements and the House of Representatives primaries conducted on May 16 in Kaduna State.
They also called for fresh direct primary elections for all senatorial districts and House of Representatives constituencies in line with the party’s constitution and guidelines.
The coalition demanded that the party leadership act on their grievances within 48 hours to safeguard the integrity and unity of the APC.
Among signatories to the protest letter were Yusuf Bala Ikara, Mohammed Mu’azu Makaddas, Yerima Usman Shettima, Yusuf Zailani and Sen. Danjuma Laah.
Others included Michael Ayuba Auta, Bashir Yusuf, Augustine Beguwa, Abdulazeez Abubakar Kaka, Yahaya Idris and Sani Abdulkadir.
Meanwhile, Retired AVM Paul Masiyer, an aspirant for Mangu/Bokkos Federal Constituency on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has rejected the result of the primaries for the constituency.
Mr Danjuma Namang, on behalf of Masiyer’s Campaign Organisations, rejected the result in a statement on Monday in Jos.
Mr Sheldas Samuel, the Returning Officer for the primaries in the constituency, had declared the incumbent, Rep. Ishaya Lalu as winner.
Samuel disclosed that Lalu scored 33,290 votes to defeat Masiyer, his closest opponent, who polled 2,115 votes.
But Namang said that primaries were not conducted in wards across the constituency, as stipulated by the 2026 Electoral Act, the APC Constitution and Guidelines for the Nomination of Candidates.
“After a careful review of the exercise, we wish to categorically reject the purported declaration of Ishaya Lalu as the winner of the APC primary election for Mangu/Bokkos federal constituency.
“Our position is based on the undeniable fact that direct primaries were not conducted in wards across the constituency as required by the Electoral Act 2026, the APC Constitution and Guidelines for the Nomination of Candidates.
“Across all the wards in Mangu and Bokkos Local Government Areas, party members, our supporters and agents, assembled peacefully and waited for electoral officials and voting materials that never arrived.
“These loyal party members remained at the designated centres until late into the night before eventually dispersing in disappointment after no election was conducted.
“It is therefore shocking, unacceptable, and contrary to every principle of democracy and internal party justice for results to emerge from wards where no voting exercise took place”, he said.
Namang said that the purported outcome does not reflect the wishes, aspirations and democratic choices of APC members in the constituency.
“What happened was a complete subversion of the democratic process and a grave assault on the integrity of our great party.
“We wish to assure all our supporters that appropriate steps have already been taken through the party’s internal appeal mechanisms to challenge this injustice and defend the sanctity of the votes and rights of party members,”he said.
Namang, who said that Masiyer’s supporters would remain peaceful, insisted that democracy cannot thrive where imposition, and manipulation take the centre stage over transparent and credible processes.
Also, Mr Marcus Onobun has protested APC primary outcome for Esan Central/Esan West/Igueben Federal Constituency, alleging he won direct primary in spite of official declaration.
This is contained in a petition he filed on Sunday to the All Progressives Congress Primary Election Petitions Committee, alleging ward results across the constituency showed his victory.
The committee reportedly announced Lucky Esiegbe as winner, in spite of Onobun’s claim that ward results indicated otherwise.
He said: “The party approved direct primary mode, empowering registered members across thirty wards to elect the candidate.”
He alleged irregularities in collation and announcement of results, saying due process was not followed in several wards.
He urged the APC Primary Election Petitions Committee to review ward results and compare them with reports from officials, agents and documentary evidence.
The incumbent member demanded to be declared rightful winner of APC House of Representatives primary for the constituency.
“That I be declared rightful winner of the APC primary, having secured majority of lawful votes,” he said.
