Fallout of APC House of Representatives Primaries: Need for Party to Prevent a Divided House

By Taiwo Olapade

The primary election into the House of Representatives organised by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, was relatively peaceful nationwide except for some isolated cases of skirmishes and violence in some states.

The primary election was to select the party’s candidates for the January 2027 general elections.

I want to congratulate all the winners that emerged in a peaceful, free and fair contest as well as those returned under the consensus option done in line with the dictates of the 2026 Electoral Act and the APC constitution.

The reality in every contest is the fact that two winners cannot emerge at the same time but there will be no room for disagreement and we no go gree mentality of the process that produced winners is seen by the overwhelming majority as free, fair, just, credible and transparent.

But what played out in some of the polling wards where violence was orchestrated in some states including Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Rivers and Adamawa was the attempt to manipulate the exercise through high level of irregularities and fraudulent practices.

Remember that lack of adherence to internal democracy is the root of all crisis rocking all the leading political parties in the country. Sadly, politicians have formed the habit of deliberate violations and disregard of the same rules and principles they once agreed to abide with.

They do so for selfish and personal advantage but at a time the table turns against them, they will be the first to cry out marginalisation and strongly fight back the system.

In the build up to the APC primaries, President Bola Tinubu appealed to party leaders and all aspirants to play by the rules. He further said and I quote: “I am aware that, in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act (2026) and our party’s constitution, leaders at various levels have initiated conversations to produce consensus candidates. It is a commendable option that would help in reducing rancour and bad blood among party members. I note the impressive progress made in this regard and encourage fellow party members to make the most of this window to ensure a seamless process and a more unified party”. End of quote.

Equally, the President noted that election is an essential ingredient of democracy, adding that where consensus fails, all the aspirants must go into the primaries as brothers and sisters. All participants in the primaries, as contestants or voters, must keep the peace and be ready to play as sportsmen and women in the overall interest of the party and our country.

The President further said that the party cannot afford rancorous conduct or the debasement of our democracy and party unity.

In every contest, according to him, there will be a winner and a loser but urged the winners not to gloat in victory and the losers to show sportsmanship by taking things in their stride and preparing for another time.

The ultimate winners, Tinubu affirmed, are those who do not choose to wreck the boat but rather work to prepare for another round.

Now that the party is looking ahead of the remaining primaries from tomorrow, Monday, in the Senate, House of Assembly, Governorship and the Presidential, the leadership of the party should conduct holistic review of what went wrong in some polling wards and go back to the drawing board to avoid a repeat in subsequent exercise.

Late arrival of officials or non-appearance at all in some polling wards should not repeat itself while the use of party’s cards and other forms of identification for double check on members should take the centre stage.

Finally, the leadership of the party should reach out to those aggrieved or sidelined members during the House of Representatives primaries in order to prevent a backlash that could cause the party unexpected repeat of the outcome of 2023 general elections.

—Taiwo Olapade, a Broadcast Journalist, writes from Lagos.