By Okoi Obono-Obla
I am not least impressed with the shoddy administrative ineptitude, incompetence, and extreme tardiness with which the APC secretariat has so far managed the 2026 Primary Elections. This opened the chasm for some desperate aspirants to attempt to throw spanners into the works and rubbish the entire Senatorial Primary Election, even peddling the falsehood that some aspirants who had been cleared were disqualified. This threw members of the Party into confusion and despair, nearly marring the exercise.
It is axiomatic that political parties are public institutions which must be properly managed and run, especially during election season that comes towards the last leg of every four years when elections periodically take place. APC boasts as the biggest political party in Africa, and this should reflect in the way it conducts and manages itself. It should be exemplary among other parties. The party must employ competent and experienced staff to help the executive run a seamless machinery and administration second to none.
Things became so bad that aspirants who were screened several days before the primaries were not furnished with the results of the screening exercise to enable them to know their next step. Instead, aspirants were put under extreme pressure, anxiety, and stress on the day of the primaries, with fake news of disqualification flying all over cyberspace. Mischievous actors cashed in on this to create a hell of confusion and uncertainty. Furthermore, the Guidelines for the Primaries were shrouded in secrecy and opacity. One would expect that the Guidelines would be released to the public, printed in pamphlets and booklets, and uploaded to the Internet to enable aspirants and members alike to know every step of the process—especially those aggrieved with the conduct of the exercise who may wish to seek redress.
I only saw an excerpt of the Guidelines contained in a press release on 19 May 2026, which in the main provides that any aspirant not satisfied with the conduct of the primary election may seek a review within 24 hours of the declaration of the primary elections at the appropriate Primary Election Appeal Committee. Such a vital procedure, central to internal conflict resolution, should not be hidden in an obscure press release but distributed in a booklet to every aspirant who purchased an expression of interest and nomination form days before the primaries. The absence of this has thrown up confusion, with aspirants and their supporters resorting to the Internet to heat up the polity rather than promptly filing their complaints before the Appeal Committee. Ultimately, they may be caught up by the effluxion of time, rendering their petitions stale and divesting the committees of jurisdiction to hear and determine them. Section 14(iv) of the Guidelines clearly provides that a petition or complaint must be lodged within 24 hours after the declaration of results. If a result was declared at 1:00 AM on 19 May 2026, time begins to run from that moment and lapses at 1:00 AM on 20 May 2026. After that time, the petition would be considered out of time.
Conclusion:
The APC must urgently embrace transparency, competence, and timely communication in the conduct of its primaries. Anything less undermines its claim as Africa’s largest party and risks eroding the confidence of its members. Clear guidelines, accessible information, and efficient administration are not optional—they are indispensable for credibility and internal cohesion.
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