‘Regardless Primary Election Outcome, We Will Decide Eventual Candidates’, Says APC National Sec

The National Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ajibola Basiru, may have set tongues wagging after stating that the party leadership would ultimately determine who emerges as its candidates for elective positions in the 2027 elections, regardless of the outcome of primary elections.

Basiru made the remarks in a viral video that surfaced on social media while addressing party members in Yoruba language at an event.

In the video, the APC National Secretary stated categorically that the party leadership had the final say on who emerges as the party’s candidates for the forthcoming elections.

“And as for those who will get the senatorial seats and even the presidency, we are the ones who will nominate and endorse them. Someone was saying that one candidate didn’t win (the primaries). I was just looking at them. If you say a candidate didn’t win, we are still the ones who will endorse and sign them. They are just playing. We don’t conduct primaries in our party; we choose whoever we want to choose. Even when we conduct primaries, it’s eye service because we all know you didn’t enter through primaries,” Basiru said.

The comments have since generated debate on social media, with critics questioning their implications for internal party democracy and the credibility of primary elections within political parties.

Under Nigeria’s electoral framework, political parties are required to conduct primary elections to select candidates for elective offices, while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) monitors the process.

As of the time of filing this report, the APC had not issued any official clarification regarding the controversial remarks.