Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate Chief Whip Mohammed Monguno and Senator Adams Oshiomhole are among the candidates who have received Candidate Affidavit Forms, known as Form EC9, as the All Progressives Congress begins uploading candidates’ particulars to the Independent National Electoral Commission portal.
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Also cleared by the ruling party to contest senatorial seats are four governors: AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara, Hope Uzodimma of Imo, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa and Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe.
Former Kaduna State Governor, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero; Senator Shehu Sani; and Senator Sunday Marshall Katung have also been cleared to contest senatorial seats in Kaduna State, while former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, secured the party’s ticket for Kogi Central Senatorial District.
They are among the 109 senatorial candidates expected to fly the party’s flag in the 2027 National Assembly elections.
For the House of Representatives, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, James Abiodun Faleke and Mudashiru Obasa are among those listed as candidates of the ruling party.
The uploading of candidates’ particulars followed the ratification of the results of the April primaries and a review of the list in line with reports from the party’s primary election appeal panels and INEC guidelines.
Political parties are expected to upload the names and particulars of their presidential and National Assembly candidates on the INEC Candidate Nomination Portal between 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 27, and 6 p.m. on Friday, July 10, when the portal will automatically close.
The documents to be uploaded include Form EC9, containing candidates’ personal particulars, and Forms EC9A, EC9B, EC9C, EC9D and EC9E, containing names and lists of nominated candidates.
Ahead of the exercise, INEC conducted a two-day training for political party officials on the use of the portal. The training, held on Thursday and Friday, was followed by the issuance of access codes to parties.
Acting Director-General of the Electoral Institute, Prof. Ibrahim Sani, said candidate nomination was a critical stage in the electoral process, stressing that the success of any election begins with proper nomination of candidates.
According to him, political parties must understand and comply with the legal and procedural requirements guiding the nomination process.
In Kaduna, former Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero and Senator Shehu Sani received Form EC9 from Governor Uba Sani.
They will join incumbent Senator Sunday Marshall Katung as the ruling party’s senatorial candidates in the state.
The issuance of Form EC9 to Shehu Sani ended weeks of speculation that his candidacy for Kaduna Central Senatorial District could be substituted before the close of nominations.
Although the former senator confirmed on Monday night that he had received the form, he declined further comment, saying it was premature to speak on the development.
On Tuesday, however, Shehu Sani posted a photograph on his WhatsApp status showing Governor Uba Sani presenting him with the INEC Form EC9.
He captioned it: “Officially the confirmed candidate, In Shaa Allah.”
Katung, who was elected to the Senate in 2023 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party before defecting to the APC, is also on the list. He had cited what he described as democratic dividends attracted to his constituency by the administrations of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani as part of his reasons for joining the ruling party.
Yero also received Form EC9 for Kaduna North Senatorial District, completing the APC’s senatorial list for the state.
Meanwhile, following complaints by aspirants who lost out after the appeal panels’ recommendations and ratification by the National Working Committee, the Progressive Governors’ Forum resolved to meet the APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda.
States affected by post-primary complaints include Ondo, Benue, Kwara and Kogi.
Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, said the party was working to put its house in order ahead of the general election.
“We have resolved to engage the APC national leadership, led by Prof. Yilwatda, to harmonise strategies for the next phase of the party’s campaign and strengthen internal cohesion before the general election,” he said.
“We must work closely with the NWC to strengthen the party’s structures and improve our overall readiness for future elections.”
Uzodimma said the governors also discussed broader issues of governance and national stability in view of public concerns over the socio-economic situation in the country.
“We did not just look at the elections; we looked at the state of the nation,” he said.
“We have resolved to work towards solving the challenges facing our democratic space and ensuring that our people are better off.
“Our ultimate commitment is to ensure that Nigerians benefit more from APC-led administrations.”
Governors listed as attending the meeting included Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Uba Sani of Kaduna, Abba Yusuf of Kano, Babagana Zulum of Borno, Dauda Lawal of Zamfara, Agbu Kefas of Taraba, Ahmad Aliyu of Sokoto, Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe, Nasir Idris of Kebbi, Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom and Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti.
APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said the party’s immediate priority was to ensure that all its candidates complete their INEC nomination forms and have them uploaded before the deadline.
“The priority of the party now is for all our candidates to complete their INEC nomination forms and have them uploaded to the INEC portal,” he said.
“The successful people — those who emerged as candidates of the party — are being provided with the relevant forms for documentation.
“They are to complete and return them to the party for upload to the INEC portal.”
Morka said public release of the full candidates’ list was not the party’s immediate focus.
“Although we will eventually release the list, our immediate priority is to ensure that our candidates complete their forms and meet the INEC deadline,” he said.
“This is more important to us than the public release of the candidates’ list. Those who are our candidates have, by now, received their forms. They already know themselves. There is no tension about that.”
He disclosed that the ruling party received over 700 petitions from aggrieved aspirants who challenged the outcome of the primaries.
According to him, the party carefully reviewed the petitions before making adjustments to the candidates’ list.
“For those who were aggrieved, we took our time to undertake a very thorough review of all the petitions that came after the primaries. There were over 700 petitions, and each was properly vetted,” he said.
Morka explained that some petitions succeeded while others failed, leading to corrections in some constituencies and the retention of earlier winners in others.
“Some were successful, and some were not. Those who succeeded led to corrections in some constituencies. Those that were unsuccessful meant those earlier declared remained,” he said.
“In a few cases, there were upsets based on the outcome of the petitions, and decisions were taken accordingly.”
He added that the petition process had ended and the present list of candidates was final.
“We have gone past that stage. The people filling the forms today are those who emerged originally without challenge and those who emerged through the appeal process. This is the outcome of the review,” Morka said.
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