Why APC Primaries Ended in Tears for Defectors

The outcome of the recently held primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) indicates that the ruling party shut its doors against defectors from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and other opposition parties.

APC held its nationwide primaries, beginning with the House of Representatives on 16 May and culminating in the presidential primary election on 23 May 2026, to nominate candidates for next year’s general election.

The outcome of the exercise has elicited hue and cry from aspirants who lost out, especially those who dumped their political parties for the ruling party in the National Assembly.

Journalist reports that over 120 members of the National Assembly, comprising both the Senate and the House of Representatives, defected from the political parties that brought them into the Red and Green Chambers.

Most of these defectors sought the party’s tickets to run for re-election in various contests, but to no avail, sparking outrage.

Those affected include Hon. Nicholas Mutu, the lawmaker representing Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency of Delta State, who defected from PDP, the party that took him to the National Assembly for seven terms, to APC; Hon. Mike Etaba, a third-term lawmaker representing Obubra/Etung Federal Constituency of Cross River State, who dumped PDP for APC; and the member representing Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency of Delta State, Hon. Ngozi Okolie, who left LP for APC.

Others are Hon. Esosa Iyawe, the member representing Oredo Federal Constituency of Edo State, who defected from the Labour Party to APC; Hon. Matthew Nwogu, the lawmaker representing Aboh Mbaise/Ngor Okpala Federal Constituency of Imo State, who left the Labour Party for APC; Hon. Mansur Musa Jega, the member representing Jega/Gwandu/Aleiro Federal Constituency of Kebbi State, who resigned from PDP and joined APC; and Hon. Bassey Akiba, the Odukpani/Calabar Municipality Federal Constituency representative of Cross River State, who defected from the Labour Party to APC.

Those who also lost APC primaries after dumping their former parties include Hon. Daniel Asama, the lawmaker representing Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency of Plateau State, who defected from the Labour Party to APC; Hon. Ajang Iliya of Jos South/Jos East in Plateau State, who decamped from the Labour Party to APC; and Hon. Donatus Mathew, an ex-okada rider who won a House of Representatives seat for Kaura Federal Constituency of Kaduna State on the platform of the Labour Party in 2023 but defected to APC in December 2024.

Similarly, Sen. Ned Nwoko (Delta North), who dumped PDP for APC, lost at the primaries, just like Neda Imasuen, the senator representing Edo South, who was elected on the platform of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections and defected to the ruling APC, as well as Hon. Nicholas Ossai, a former lawmaker from the Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency of Delta State who dumped PDP for APC.

On the other hand, Hon. Awaji-Inombek Abiante, representative of the Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency; Hon. Boma Goodhead, who represents Akuku-Toru/Asari-Toru Federal Constituency; retired Air Commodore John Azubuike Opara, aspirant for Port Harcourt Federal Constituency; and Anderson Allison Igbiki, contender for the Okrika/Ogu-Bolo Federal Constituency seat — all from Rivers State who dumped PDP for APC — were disqualified, hence shut out of the primaries.

Also, Senator Benson Agadaga of Bayelsa East was elected to the Senate in 2023 on the PDP platform but defected to the APC earlier this year. Likewise, Senator Garba Maidoki of Kebbi South, another lawmaker who rose through the PDP ranks to the Senate before joining the ruling party, was also disqualified.

Though he claimed to have willingly withdrawn from the race, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, who had dumped PDP for APC, had obtained the party’s N50 million nomination form and undergone screening to seek a return ticket on the ruling party’s platform.

Fubara, who announced his withdrawal from the contest in a statement he personally issued some hours before the governorship primaries, noted that he stepped down out of conviction and to make a sacrifice for the state to move forward in peace and unity.

“Let it be clearly understood that I stepped aside from participating in the upcoming Rivers State gubernatorial election not out of weakness, fear, or surrender but out of conviction and sacrifice so that Rivers State may move forward in peace and unity, and I remain committed to serving the good people of Rivers State till the end of my term,” the statement read.

But his estranged political benefactor and predecessor, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, insisted that Fubara was not even supposed to have aspired for the APC ticket under an earlier peace deal.

In an interview with journalists, the FCT minister said, “I’m not surprised that the governor withdrew. In the first place, he ought not to have collected the APC nomination form because the agreement was reached that impeachment should be dropped, while he should also not talk about a second tenure.”

It has been argued that the two methods of primary election, namely consensus and direct primaries, provided for in the Electoral Act 2026, were abused by party stakeholders to shut out aspirants, especially defectors.

Section 87 of the Electoral Act prescribes that: “(1) A political party that adopts a consensus candidate shall secure the written consent of all cleared aspirants for the position, indicating their voluntary withdrawal from the race and their endorsement of the consensus candidate.

“(2) Where a political party is unable to secure the written consent of all cleared aspirants for a consensus candidate, it shall revert to the choice of direct primaries for the nomination of candidates for elective positions.”

Analysts and aspirants have claimed that, under the consensus method, stakeholders selected those they wanted. They also alleged that the direct primaries were marred by irregularities that favoured certain contenders who eventually emerged as candidates.

Some of the aspirants reportedly received assurances of return tickets before dumping their former parties for APC.

Senator Ned Nwoko (Delta North) accused the APC leadership of deception, alleging that he was promised an automatic return ticket to the Senate before defecting from PDP to the ruling party.

The senator’s outburst came in the wake of his defeat in the recent APC primary election by former governor and former PDP vice-presidential candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.

Speaking during an interview on Arise News’ Prime Time programme earlier in the week, the businessman-turned-lawmaker said: “I certainly was told before I came into the party that there would be an automatic ticket for me.

“Why would I just leave my previous platform like that without making sure I have a secure ride? That promise was broken basically because it wasn’t an automatic ticket; you had to compete for it.”

The senator further disclosed that assurances given to him before joining the APC included power-sharing arrangements and a restructuring of the party’s executive committee in Delta State.

“Legacy APC members have been shoved aside, and the new guys that came in took over practically everything,” he stated. “Myself and others were promised that there would be discussions on the new structure of the party.”

According to him, those commitments disappeared following the exit of former APC national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.

“The former chairman,” he said when asked who made the promises. “We had meetings with him and other leaders of the party, and we were assured that there would be some new sharing formula.

“We were even told that the state executives would be dissolved and there would be nominations to enable the old APC to get a foothold in the government, but that was never done.

“Ganduje is no longer the chairman; that’s the problem,” Nwoko added.

APC had declared former Delta governor Ifeanyi Okowa the winner of its senatorial ticket for Delta North ahead of the 2027 general elections.

APC Returning Officer for the primary election, Prof. Johnbull Tonukar, announced that Okowa won with 113,309 votes, defeating the incumbent, Nwoko, who scored 2,612 votes.

However, Nwoko and his legal team rejected the outcome, describing the exercise as a “theatre of manipulation, intimidation and vote-buying”.

The senator insisted that his camp had video evidence and ward-level result sheets allegedly proving that he won overwhelmingly across 98 wards in Delta North.

He further alleged that the figures eventually announced by the party were fabricated before election day.

The defeated incumbents in Cross River State, who also defected from PDP and the Labour Party to APC, rejected the outcome of the primaries, describing the exercise as a “charade” and alleging that the process was manipulated against sitting members.

They accused the APC state leadership of violating both the Electoral Act and the party’s constitution, insisting that the primaries were unfair and failed to provide equal opportunity to all aspirants.

Similarly, Iyawe, a former LP member who also lost the ticket, rejected the outcome of the APC primary election in the constituency, citing alleged widespread irregularities, inconsistencies, and violence.

The lawmaker, in a statement, said the conduct of the exercise fell short of the democratic standards and directives earlier laid down by President Bola Tinubu, who, according to him, had emphasised that direct primary elections across the country must be conducted in a free, fair, and transparent manner.

Iyawe said several of his supporters and party members were disenfranchised during the exercise, particularly in parts of Oredo West, where some of his followers were reportedly assaulted and prevented from participating freely in the process.

He expressed disappointment that certain influential individuals within the constituency allegedly resorted to intimidation and violence instead of allowing party members to exercise their democratic rights peacefully.

He lamented that the actions of certain interests allegedly undermined the credibility of the primary election process, expressing confidence that the party’s national leadership would investigate the issues surrounding the exercise and ensure justice.

The lawmaker further alleged that 10 of the 12 wards in the constituency adopted a consensus arrangement, contrary to Section 87 of the Electoral Act, which stipulates that all aspirants must withdraw voluntarily before a consensus candidate can emerge.

Iyawe said the adoption of consensus in the affected wards disenfranchised many party members and supporters who were prepared to participate in the direct primary process. In contrast, the remaining two wards, where voting eventually took place, were allegedly characterised by irregular counting and inconsistencies in the collation of results.

“The process fell far short of the democratic standards and directives laid down by President Bola Tinubu,” he stressed.

Also, Hon. Ossai, a former PDP member who lost the APC ticket for the Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency, protested the conduct of the primaries.

He described the process as unconstitutional and alleged that eligible card-carrying members were disenfranchised. Ossai submitted a petition to the APC National Assembly Primary Election Appeal Committee.

Apart from Ossai, most of those who lost out have submitted petitions to the APC National Assembly Primary Election Appeal Committee and are awaiting the determination of their cases.