We reviewed over 720 petitions after primaries — APC

…denies candidates’ substitution

National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Felix Morka, has disclosed that the party received and reviewed more than 720 petitions from aggrieved aspirants following the conduct of its primary elections.

Speaking on Arise News on Tuesday, Morka dismissed allegations that the party substituted candidates or handed tickets to individuals who did not participate in the primaries, insisting that all decisions were made in accordance with the APC constitution and guidelines.

According to him, the primary election extends beyond voting on election day and includes an appeal mechanism designed to address grievances arising from the process.

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“Primary election is a process and not an event. What took place on the field on the day of an election is a part of the process that began with the sale of forms and all of the processes that followed,” he said.

Morka explained that the party constituted appeal committees alongside the primary election committees to consider complaints from dissatisfied aspirants, describing the appeal process as an integral component of the primary election.

“We received over 720 petitions from those who contested in that election. These petitions were reviewed by the appeal committees, which made recommendations to the National Working Committee. The National Working Committee also reviewed the reports and re-evaluated the cases before making the changes being discussed. These are legitimate outcomes of our primaries,” he said.

He rejected claims that the APC awarded tickets to individuals who neither purchased nomination forms nor participated in the primaries.

“I’m not aware of any such case. If you have any such example, please mention it, and I will go back and do my own investigation,” Morka said.

The APC spokesman acknowledged that disputes were inevitable in competitive elections but maintained that the party had painstakingly reviewed every complaint to ensure fairness.

“When they don’t win, naturally some people have reason to be dissatisfied. That is why we took our time to go through these appeal processes to ensure there was no case we failed to thoroughly review,” he said.

He added that while not every aspirant could emerge as the party’s flag bearer, the APC was engaging dissatisfied members to reassure them that its decisions were based on due process rather than favoritism.

“What we say to them is that everyone cannot be flag bearer. Our engagements are already on to reassure them that this is not personal and nothing has been done arbitrarily. Nobody has just been favoured with tickets,” he stated.

Morka also dismissed allegations that the review of primary election outcomes was manipulated to settle political disputes involving governors and other influential party leaders, arguing that mechanisms for reviewing contested primaries exist because elections are not immune to irregularities.

“Primaries are not infallible. They are not immune to irregularities. The system expects that sometimes things don’t go right, so there must be a mechanism to review complaints,” he said.

Questioning claims that the party deliberately worked against incumbent governors, he asked: “What exactly would be the party’s incentive to intentionally and deliberately miscarry the election against a sitting governor?”

On the APC’s electoral prospects, Morka dismissed suggestions that the ruling party was anxious ahead of the next general election despite controlling the majority of state governments.

He said the APC had won every election conducted since the 2023 general election, including recent by-elections, and insisted the party remained focused on securing victory in the next polls.

“We are working hard to win the next election, like we’ve won in all the by-elections. The idea that we’re afraid is utterly ridiculous. We are working hard to win the next election,” he said.