Despite public assertions from major political parties claiming they met the July 11 deadline for submitting candidate lists for the 2027 elections to the Independent National Electoral Commission, reports indicate this is inaccurate. Insiders at INEC have confirmed that no party, including the All Progressives Congress, successfully uploaded their candidates before the initial cutoff.
According to these sources, over 70 percent of APC candidates had not been registered by the deadline. The commission ultimately had to facilitate back-end access to accommodate the widespread inability of parties to meet the cutoff, eventually extending the window to July 14. This contradicts earlier statements from the APC suggesting it had complied with the timeline independently.
While APC spokesman Felix Morka previously claimed the deadline extension was forced by the incompetence of opposition parties, the internal INEC account suggests that all registered parties failed to meet the original requirements. Meanwhile, the APC faces internal challenges, including a recent protest at its national headquarters by members from Benue State. These stakeholders allege that local leaders are attempting to impose candidates rather than holding transparent primary elections, warning that such actions could harm the party’s electoral success.
