Politics

Primary Elections: APC Explains Substitutions (Video)

July 7, 2026
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The All Progressives Congress (APC) says it did not hand tickets to people who never participated in its Primaries, insisting that all substitutions were done through due process.

Speaking on ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said the Party received more than 720 petitions from aggrieved aspirants after the Primaries and treated each one before making changes.

“We received over 720 petitions from those who contested in that election. These petitions were reviewed by the Appeal Committees and recommendations were made to the National Working Committee,” Morka said.

According to him, the NWC went further to “re-evaluate those cases” before arriving at the final list.

“And at the end of them, we made those changes that you are discussing. So these are legitimate outcomes of our Primaries,” he added.

Morka pushed back against claims that the APC violated the Electoral Act by replacing candidates after the Primaries. He argued that Primaries are not just about voting.

“Primary election is a process. It’s not an event. The appeal process is an integral part of the Primary Election process. It’s not a separate process, and it’s not a process invented by the Party to cause mischief,” he said.

On allegations that the Party gave tickets to people who didn’t buy forms or show up for screening, the APC spokesman said he was not aware of any such case.

“I’m not aware of any such case that you are alluding to about those who didn’t participate, who never bought forms, who were not screened, who didn’t participate in primaries, all of a sudden handed tickets.

“Look, I’m not aware. If you have any such example, please mention it, and I will go back and do my own investigation,” Morka said.

He admitted that not everyone would be happy with the outcome, but said the Party made efforts to be fair.

“When they don’t win, naturally some people definitely have a reason to be dissatisfied. And this is why we took our time to go through these appeal processes to make sure that there was no case we didn’t give the time of day to thoroughly review.”

Morka said the Party is already reaching out to aggrieved aspirants to reassure them.

“What we say to them is that everyone cannot be flag bearer. Our engagements are already on to reach individuals like this, to reassure them that this is not personal. Nothing has been done that is arbitrary. Nobody has just been favoured with tickets.”

He also dismissed insinuations that the review was manipulated to favour certain interests.

“Primaries are not infallible. Primaries are not immune to irregularities. The system, the law, everything already expects that sometimes things don’t go right, so there must be a mechanism to review that when others complain.”

On the 2027 Elections, Morka said the APC is not scared despite opposition criticism.

“All the elections conducted in this Country since the 2023 General Elections, we have won them, including the most recent elections we won massively, bigly, to use the words of Donald Trump,” he said.

“We are working hard to win the next election, like we’ve won in all the by-elections. The idea that we’re afraid, that is utterly ridiculous. We are working hard to win the next election.”

Watch the video below;