WED JULY 01 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has replaced 25 National Assembly candidates, including former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam, after an internal review of disputes arising from its primary elections, reshaping the party’s legislative ticket ahead of the 2027 general election.
The revised list, submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), removes six senatorial candidates and 19 House of Representatives candidates who had initially won the party’s May 2026 primaries.
The APC said the changes followed recommendations by its Primary Election Appeal Committee after it considered hundreds of petitions challenging the nomination process.
The affected constituencies are located across Abia, Benue, Kogi, Taraba, Ebonyi, Ondo, Kaduna, Niger and Kwara states.
In a letter to INEC signed by APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda and National Secretary Ajibola Basiru, the party said its National Working Committee had adopted the Appeal Committee’s recommendations as its final decision on the disputed constituencies.
The APC said the revised nominations complied with the Electoral Act and INEC’s regulations governing candidate submissions.
The overhaul follows more than 700 petitions filed by aspirants and party members after the primaries, according to APC National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka, making it one of the most extensive post-primary reviews undertaken by the party.
Several senior APC figures retained their nominations, including Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate Chief Whip Mohammed Monguno and Senator Adams Oshiomhole, all of whom have received their Candidate Affidavit Forms (EC9).
The party also cleared four serving governors—AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Hope Uzodimma, Ahmadu Fintiri and Inuwa Yahaya—to contest Senate seats.
Former Kaduna State Governor Mukhtar Yero, Senators Shehu Sani and Sunday Katung were confirmed for the Kaduna senatorial contests, while former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello secured the party’s ticket for Kogi Central Senatorial District as part of the APC’s 109 senatorial candidates for the 2027 election.
For the House of Representatives, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, Mudashiru Obasa and James Faleke are among candidates whose particulars have been uploaded to INEC.
INEC has fixed June 27 to July 10 as the window for political parties to upload the particulars of their presidential and National Assembly candidates through its Candidate Nomination Portal after training party officials on the nomination process.
Acting Director-General of the Electoral Institute Ibrahim Sani said political parties must ensure full compliance with legal and procedural requirements, describing candidate nomination as one of the most critical stages of the electoral process.
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