*As Tinubu Wins APC Primary With 10.9m Votes
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2026-Summer-IDRI-Masterclass.jpg")
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been declared the winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary election and confirmed as the party’s candidate for the 2027 general election, polling 10,999,162 votes to defeat his sole challenger, Stanley Osifo, who scored 16,503 votes in a direct primary conducted across 8,809 wards and 774 local government areas nationwide.
However, the exercise has been overshadowed by a viral video from the ward of Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, in Bende, Abia State, which showed a counter walking past a short queue of voters and inflating numbers from 1,015 to 7,400 in a matter of seconds a scene that has been widely shared on social media as what critics describe as evidence of the “rigging machinery” the APC is allegedly preparing for the 2027 general elections, and what supporters dismiss as lighthearted grassroots enthusiasm.
The video has drawn particular attention because of Kalu’s status as a lawyer and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Nigeria’s second-highest legislative officer making the spectacle from his own ward an especially uncomfortable optic for the ruling party.
The video, which has been widely circulated on X and other social media platforms, captures what appears to be the APC presidential primary exercise at the Bende Ward level in Abia State, conducted under the Option A4 system the traditional open-ballot method where voters physically line up behind the poster of their preferred candidate.
The scene opens with a politician speaking into a microphone beside a banner featuring President Tinubu with the text “2026 Presidential Primaries Bende Ward.” He introduces the two candidates: President Tinubu and a challenger named Stanley, pointing to a lone man standing a few feet away holding a small campaign poster. “The other man there, I don’t know him,” the speaker says, prompting laughter from the crowd.
An overwhelming majority of those present are lined up behind the Tinubu banner, while virtually no one stands behind the opposing candidate.
The counting process is where the video becomes most controversial. A man in a white outfit and a traditional Igbo red cap begins counting the voters individually “1, 2, 3…” as he walks down the queue. However, as the numbers climb, he apparently decides the count is not progressing fast enough and hands the counting duty to another man in a black-and-white striped outfit.
The second counter takes over and proceeds to wildly inflate the numbers with every step he takes. He jumps instantly from 1,015 to 7,400. A few steps later, he is in the 9,100s. By the end of what appears to be a relatively short line of voters, he is counting in the 9,200s a mathematical impossibility given the number of people visibly standing in the queue.
The crowd appears to be entertained by the performance, cheering and laughing as the numbers escalate, suggesting the inflation was at least partly performative. However, the question of whether these inflated numbers were subsequently submitted as official results has become the central concern driving the public outcry.
Chairman of the APC Presidential Primary Election Committee, former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim, announced the official results at the Bola Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja on Sunday.
According to Anyim, 12,643,306 members were registered for the exercise, 11,069,756 voters were accredited, and 11,015,665 votes were cast. President Tinubu polled 10,999,162 votes, while his sole challenger Stanley Osifo scored 16,503 votes.
“It is therefore my duty as the returning officer for this primary election to declare President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, having satisfied the requirements of the APC Constitution and guidelines and scored the highest number of votes, winner of the presidential primary election and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the 2027 general election,” Anyim declared.
The figure that immediately drew attention was not the margin of victory which was expected given that Tinubu is the incumbent president running against a virtually unknown challenger but the raw vote total itself.
In the 2023 presidential general election, President Tinubu won with approximately 8,794,726 votes cast by the entire Nigerian electorate across all parties and all polling units nationwide. Yet in the APC’s internal primary where only registered party members participate, there is no opposition, and the outcome was never in doubt Tinubu polled 10,999,162 votes.
This means the APC primary produced 2,204,436 more votes for Tinubu than the entire nation gave him in the 2023 general election a statistical outcome that has been widely questioned.
Critics have pointed out the arithmetic improbability: how can a single party’s internal exercise, limited to its own registered members, produce more votes than the candidate received in a nationwide general election involving the entire electorate? The question has fuelled accusations that the primary numbers were systematically inflated at the ward level with the Bende Ward video being cited as a visible example of how such inflation may have occurred across the country.
View this post on Instagram
Accepting the nomination, President Tinubu struck an emotional tone, acknowledging the pain of his administration’s economic reforms while seeking to demonstrate empathy with ordinary Nigerians.
“I accept with profound humility and gratitude the nomination of our great party, the APC, to stand again as your presidential candidate in the 2027 election,” Tinubu said.
“I know what it takes to reform this nation we met in tatters. If you lost sleep, I’ve lost some too. If you’ve lost weight, I’ve lost some too. But I’ve always remembered one thing: in 2022, I asked for this job. You all supported me and I got it. So I must do it,” the President stated.
Tinubu said he monitored the primary exercise on television after casting his vote in Lagos on Saturday morning, expressing encouragement at the large turnout across the country.
“I was glued to the television after voting. I saw the mammoth crowd in Kano and Kaduna, the city boy walking the streets of Calabar. It was a good feeling to see that there was no bloodshed, no rancour. This is politics in earnest. This is where we want Nigeria, facing one focus,” Tinubu added.
Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, who spoke after the exercise, described the outcome as evidence of the APC’s growing strength. “APC is growing day by day, more robustly, stronger, more popular, ready to go into any contest at any time,” Uzodimma said, adding that the party had become a credible platform with a verifiable membership register.
The combination of the viral Bende Ward video and the 10.9 million vote total produced a torrent of reactions on social media, with the overwhelming majority expressing a mix of outrage, mockery, and alarm.
One user captured the dominant sentiment: “They don’t even hide it anymore. They are making mockery of Nigerians as their conquered slaves. A day of reckoning is coming and there will be no hiding place for these evil men and their supporters in that terrorist organisation called APC.”
Another wrote: “APC is a curse. Ordinary APC primary that nobody is competing with Tinubu, see how they are counting it. The manipulation they are preparing for in 2027 is unimaginable.”
Several users drew attention to the mathematical impossibility of the results: “Interesting. In 2023, President Tinubu won the general election with over 8 million votes, now he is winning the primaries with over 10 million votes. Interestingly, this has set the threshold for next year’s results.”
The observation that the primary figure may have established a baseline for 2027 general election results was echoed by multiple commentators who warned: “This is exactly what is going to happen in 2027.”
Others focused specifically on the Bende Ward video. “Even in the Deputy Speaker’s backyard, APC primaries are still a sham. No shame,” one user wrote. Another asked incredulously: “Is this a skit or what?” A user named CHIDERA wrote: “Omo 1,013 to 7,000 — guy,” expressing disbelief at the leap in numbers.
Some reactions targeted the counters and officials directly: “What kind of counting is this, God!” wrote one user. “These guys too mumu,” added another. “In broad daylight,” observed a third.
A user identified as Mazi Sufficient directed his criticism at the ethnic dimension: “Shame on our Igbo politicians,” while another user, teegee, suggested the inflated numbers served a specific purpose: “They need those numbers for their rigging.”
Not all reactions were critical. Some users treated the video as entertainment: “Nice content,” one wrote, while others simply posted laughing emojis, treating the spectacle as darkly comedic rather than outrage-inducing.
While similar counting irregularities may have occurred at thousands of polling stations across the country during the primary, the Bende Ward video has been singled out for particular attention for a specific reason: the person whose ward produced the spectacle is a lawyer and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Benjamin Kalu is not merely a politician but a legal practitioner a member of the Nigerian Bar Association sworn to uphold the rule of law. The fact that the most viral example of apparent vote inflation during the APC presidential primary occurred in his own ward raises questions about whether the Deputy Speaker was aware of, condoned, or was complicit in the counting method displayed in the video.
As one commentator noted: “We single this out because the person involved is a lawyer, a Deputy Speaker.” The implication is that a higher standard of conduct is expected from a legal practitioner who holds the second-highest position in the lower chamber of Nigeria’s legislature.
The APC presidential primary was conducted on Saturday, May 23, 2026, across all 8,809 wards nationwide under the direct primary system. The exercise was coordinated by state coordinators and collation officers appointed by the NWC, including virtually all 36 state governors.
The Presidential Primary Election Committee was chaired by former Senate President Pius Anyim, with former Senate President Ken Nnamani, Victor Udo Udoma, Otunba Grace Titi Laoye-Ponle, Jolly Nyame, and Idris Wada as members, and Sanusi Musa as secretary. The Appeal Committee was chaired by former Katsina Governor Aminu Masari.
Results were collated from 774 local government areas, compiled by state coordinators, and forwarded to the committee in Abuja for final collation and declaration.
Beyond the immediate controversy, the APC presidential primary result has set a political benchmark that will follow the party into the 2027 general election campaign.
If the APC claims to have 10.9 million members who voted in an internal primary, the party will be expected to deliver at least that number and significantly more in a competitive general election. Any result in 2027 that falls below the primary figure would raise questions about the credibility of either the primary numbers or the general election outcome.
Conversely, if the APC produces a 2027 general election result that closely mirrors or exceeds the 10.9 million primary figure, opposition parties and civil society groups will point to the Bende Ward video and similar incidents as evidence that the inflation machinery tested during the primary has been deployed in the general election.
As one social media user warned: “This has set the threshold for next year’s results.”
Neither Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, the APC, nor INEC has publicly commented on the viral Bende Ward counting video as at the time of this report. The APC presidential primary result stands as declared by the committee, with President Tinubu confirmed as the party’s candidate for the 2027 general election.
“Order Your Copy Now” — Basil Momodu, Esq. Unveils Second Edition Of His Book, "Civil Procedure In Nigeria"
According to the learned author, Basil Momodu Esq. "Law review is a continuum. We will continue to track changes in the law to enrich future editions." Recommended Booksellers: Lagos: 08033855230, Abuja: 08035991379, and others.
_______________________________________________________________________
“Enhance Legal Practice With Authoritative Reports” — Alexander Payne Offers Comprehensive Law Reports, Spanning Over A Century Of Nigerian Jurisprudence
Interested buyers are encouraged to place their orders and enquiries via:
0704 444 4777, 0704 444 4999, 0818 199 9888
Website: www.alexandernigeria.com
The book, titled The Law of Torts in Nigeria: A Functional Approach, authored by Professor Hagler Sunny Okorie Ph.D and Ikeocha, Nathaniel Ngozi Esq, offers law students, practitioners, and academics a comprehensive guide to understanding and applying tort law in Nigerian courts. Interested buyers can place orders via the following contact numbers: 08028636615, 08037667945, 08032253813, or +234 902 196 2209.
________________________________________________________________________
[A MUST HAVE] Evidence Act Demystified With Recent And Contemporary Cases And Materials
