The All Progressives Congress ( APC ) House of Representatives primary elections in Ondo State, held on Saturday, May 16, 2026, have devolved into a significant procedural crisis. What was intended to be a routine exercise to elect legislative flagbearers has instead revealed deep fractures within the party, characterised by last-minute disqualifications, parallel primary lines, and multiple candidates concurrently declaring victory.
The Legality of Screening: What the Rules Say
Under the Constitution of the All Progressives Congress and the statutory provisions outlined in Section 84 of Nigeria’s Electoral Act, the timeline for qualifying or disqualifying a candidate is explicitly defined to prevent electoral ambush. Party guidelines dictate that an independent Screening Committee must vet all nomination forms weeks prior to an election.
If an aspirant is found wanting, they must receive a formal disqualification certificate, triggering a mandatory window to appeal to the APC Screening Appeals Committee. Once the Appeals Committee clears or upholds a decision and the official ballot or register is printed, that list remains structurally final for election day.
The Electoral Act strictly prohibits the arbitrary removal of fully cleared aspirants on the morning of the vote without exhaustive and transparent administrative recourse.
The Dawn Disenfranchisement and the Parallel Explosion
The crisis in Ondo State reached a boiling point when it was reported on the morning of the primary election that seven leading aspirants had been summarily disqualified by a directive purportedly originating from the party’s central power blocs. This move bypassed the mandatory multi-tiered appeals framework, instantly shattering the entire operational structure of the primary.
Affected aspirants rejected what they termed an “unconstitutional ambush,” commanding their delegates and supporters to remain at the wards. In response to the official electoral panels executing a truncated list favouring specific establishment figures, opposing camps organised parallel primary mechanisms. Across multiple federal constituencies, separate queues were formed, distinct result sheets compiled, and entirely separate voting sets computed. By the afternoon, Ondo State found itself in a scenario where different political factions were utilising the same party platform to announce conflicting victories.
Systemic Implications: Why a House Divided Cannot Stand
The sudden removal of candidates on election day does not merely cause unrest; it introduces profound structural and legal vulnerabilities that could dismantle the APC’s tickets in court long before the general elections. By executing secret exclusions on the actual morning of the exercise, the party leadership decoupled the election from any semblance of data integrity. In constituencies such as Akoko North-East/Akoko North-West, Akure, and Owo/Ose, the process suffered a complete breakdown of oversight. Electoral panels either abandoned their posts or were physically blocked, allowing factions to write favourable results in secluded environments.
The Nigerian judiciary has established a rigorous precedent regarding internal party democracy: rules cannot be changed, nor can qualified participants be altered after the game has commenced. By denying cleared aspirants their right to stand for election without a transparent and formal hearing, the leadership of the APC has inadvertently provided aggrieved candidates with a robust cause of action under Nigerian electoral jurisprudence. The party now faces a wave of litigations that could result in the courts nullifying the state’s primaries, reminiscent of previous legal upsets in Rivers and Zamfara states.
The Breakdown of Cohesion
Beyond the courtroom, the imposition of a preferred candidate pool through sudden, extra-legal disqualifications inflicts deep scars on party loyalty. Thousands of local party members who stood in line on election day felt completely disenfranchised. If a factional ticket is forced through without objective and exhaustive redress by the APC National Primary Election Appeals Committee, the party risks severe internal sabotage and a vulnerable base heading into the broader legislative campaigns.
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