The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) has directed all party candidates to submit the names of their proposed polling unit agents directly to the national secretariat in Abuja, bypassing state chapters. The directive marks a significant departure from standard practice and comes amid intelligence reports suggesting that some APC governors are allegedly sponsoring candidates on opposition platforms ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Intelligence Reports Prompt Unprecedented Directive
According to The Guardian, multiple sources within the party said the NWC made the decision after receiving intelligence that some state governors were allegedly plotting to install their own loyalists as APC polling agents while simultaneously bankrolling candidates on opposition platforms. The concern, sources said, is that these loyalists would technically represent the APC at polling units while working in the interest of the governor-backed opposition candidates.
The arrangement is said to be focused on states where the NWC has reason to believe governors are funding rivals to run against official APC candidates. A South-West group, the Oodua Progressive Youths League, had earlier raised the alarm, alleging that some governors whose preferred aspirants lost the party's National Assembly primaries pushed those candidates to seek tickets from opposition parties and contest against the APC.
South-West Group Alleges Governor Conspiracy
In a statement signed by the group's General Secretary, Wale Abdulwaheed, the group further alleged that the governors had struck deals with certain opposition parties over the selection of polling agents, with plans to put forward the names of their loyalists as the APC's officially recognised representatives in their states, even though those loyalists remain APC members.
The development signals a significant strain within the ruling party as the 2027 election season approaches. The cold posture of several northern APC governors towards Tinubu's re-election campaign has added to the sense of a party grappling with internal divisions at the highest level.
Friction Between Presidency and Governors Intensifies
By taking direct control of polling agent submissions, the NWC is signalling that it no longer trusts the state structures to act in the party's best interest, a move that is likely to deepen friction between the presidency and its governors ahead of a critical election cycle.
Legit.ng earlier reported that Rochas Okorocha filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja challenging INEC's recognition of Hope Uzodimma as APC's Imo West senatorial candidate. Okorocha claims he won the May 18 APC primary with 150,780 votes against Uzodimma's 102,158, but the returning officer declared Uzodimma the winner with 230,464 votes. The case raises a constitutional question over whether Uzodimma, whose tenure as governor runs to January 2028, can legally contest the 2027 senatorial election.
