Failure To Meet Candidate List Submission Deadline Shows Unpreparedness, APC Mocks Opposition

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced that it successfully met the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) deadline for submitting the names of its candidates for the 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

The ruling party, however, mocked political parties, saying their failure to meet the INEC deadline for the submission of 2027 election candidates exposed their Unpreparedness.

APC national publicity secretary, Felix Morka, in a statement on Sunday, said the party satisfied the requirements despite the large number of candidates contesting on its platform for various elective offices.

Morka noted that, at the request of opposition political parties that had failed to meet the 11 July deadline, INEC granted an extension to 14 July 2026.

The electoral umpire said the extension followed an appeal by the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) on behalf of political parties that were unable to upload the names and personal particulars of their candidates within the stipulated timeline.

The APC spokesperson said that while INEC acted within its statutory powers and administrative discretion in extending the deadline for opposition parties to upload names of their candidates, it was necessitated by the stark failure of opposition parties to manage their internal processes to comply with INEC’s submission deadline, despite having fewer candidates to manage compared to the APC.

He said the development provided yet another clear indication of the opposition’s inherent chronic weakness and raised legitimate questions about their operational capacity.

“Political parties that cannot efficiently conclude their own internal nomination processes cannot possibly be trusted by Nigerians to possess the competence, discipline, or readiness to govern our great nation or its subnational governments.

“It is starkly ironic that the same opposition parties have repeatedly peddled false, malicious and unfounded tales that the APC controls and dictates INEC’s decisions. Yet, as they failed to meet the submission deadline, they shamelessly turned to the same INEC for respite and were granted an extension.

“The same APC that would have been the obvious beneficiary if INEC had stood firm on its original deadline, kept its distance, having met the deadline and completed its submission. Again, this underscores the opposition’s hypocrisy and true character as peddlers of fake news and merchants of blackmail.

“With the successful upload of particulars of all its Presidential, Vice Presidential, Senate, and House of Representatives candidates on the INEC Candidate Nomination Portal, APC has, again, demonstrated its leadership and superior organisational capacity, discipline, and solid commitment to due process. As we conclude this important phase of the electoral process, we call on all Party leaders, stakeholders, members, and supporters to turn their full attention to the task ahead.

“We must remain focused and continue to strengthen our structures at all levels, increase awareness of the massive achievements under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, deepen grassroots mobilisation, and prepare for a vigorous, issue-based campaign that will earn our great party a renewed mandate in the 2027 general elections,” he added.