ABUJA, Nigeria — Fresh concerns have emerged within the leadership structure of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) following the official conclusion of the party’s highly sensitive State and National Assembly primary elections. The North-Central APC Forum has raised a red flag over the internal health of the political organization, claiming that an overwhelming number of party loyalists, delegates, and grassroots members are deeply dissatisfied with the handling of the nomination exercises across the country.
The influential pressure group within the ruling party has alleged that more than half of the entire APC membership base nationwide is currently harboring resentment over how the primary elections were coordinated by the national secretariat. According to the Forum, the internal voting processes across various constituencies were heavily plagued by widespread irregularities, logistical confusion, and credible allegations of manipulation in several geopolitical zones, threatening to destabilize the party’s cohesion.
In an expansive and critical statement issued on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, by the Chairman of the North-Central APC Forum, Saleh Zazzaga, the group asserted that recent chaotic developments across the states have fully vindicated the earlier administrative warnings it raised before the screening and voting exercises commenced. The group noted that instead of serving as a unifying mechanism, the primary elections have left behind a trail of internal friction and bitter disputes.
According to the comprehensive report compiled by the Forum, a torrent of formal complaints and petition letters have continued to pour into various regional offices from aggrieved aspirants and key party stakeholders who actively participated in the legislative primary exercises. The statement emphasized that many members feel the democratic integrity of the process was severely compromised, with outcomes influenced by deep financial pockets and personal parochial interests rather than fairness, popular appeal, and the core principles of internal party democracy.
Going further in its critique, the group accused specific national officers within the APC National Working Committee of allegedly commercializing the primary tickets. The Forum claimed to have intercepted reports indicating that several high-performing and popular aspirants who failed to meet certain financial and political demands from powerful party brokers were either systematically screened out on frivolous technical grounds or entirely denied a level playing field during the actual balloting.
The statement further alleged that the selection and composition of the various primary election committees sent to oversee the voting exercises in many states was not done on the basis of competence, neutrality, or administrative tracking. Instead, the Forum argued that committee slots were shared as political patronage based on blind loyalty and personal relationships with national officers, which directly contributed to the conflicting results, parallel primaries, and bitter disputes recorded in some volatile federal constituencies and senatorial districts.
The group noted with grave concern that in several locations, aggrieved legislative aspirants have completely rejected the announced outcomes of the primary elections, with a significant number already briefing their legal teams to initiate immediate court actions against the party’s national leadership and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
From what we have gathered, 50 percent of party members across the country are not happy with the conduct of the APC primary elections. They are not happy with the national chairman, the strongly worded statement read, pointing out that the discontent runs deep within the party’s foundational base.
The North-Central Forum warned that this dangerous development could rapidly deepen existing internal cracks within the ruling party if swift, reconciliation-driven steps are not taken by the national leadership to pacify those who feel cheated by the system. The group stressed that leaving these heavy grievances unaddressed could severely sabotage the overall unity and mobilizational strength of the APC ahead of the critical 2027 general election season.
Consequently, the group made an urgent appeal to the highest echelons of the party, urging elder statesmen and the progressive governors to immediately intervene, set up high-powered reconciliation panels, and transparently look into the legitimate complaints raised by members across the 36 states of the federation.
The Forum also pointedly reminded national party officials of the explicit directive previously issued by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, who had warned that all party primaries must be transparent, peaceful, credible, and reflective of the true choices of the grassroots members. The group stressed that failing to manage the growing emotional tension within the party could trigger a wave of defections and avoidable anti-party activities in the coming months.
The North-Central APC Forum had notably raised alarm bells weeks before the primary timelines commenced, alleging at the time that corrupt party officials were demanding exorbitant unofficial fees from aspirants seeking legislative tickets. The group had previously linked those unethical financial demands to the sudden and unexplained changes made to the official timetable for the House of Representatives primaries, a development that analysts say has now culminated in the current wave of intra-party friction.
