Crisis: APC North-Central Forum gives Nat'l Chairman two-weeks ultimatum to quit over alleged primary election irregularities

By Johnson Arua

The North-Central Forum of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has issued a two-week ultimatum to the party’s National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, demanding his resignation over allegations surrounding the conduct of the recently concluded party primaries.

The Forum accused the Yilwatda-led National Working Committee (NWC) of mishandling the State Assembly, National Assembly, governorship and presidential primaries, alleging that the exercises were marred by manipulation, monetisation and widespread irregularities.

According to the group, several aspirants who were expected to emerge victorious were either screened out or had their results altered in favour of candidates allegedly backed by party officials.

In a statement released on Friday and signed by the Forum’s National Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the group said the APC leadership must be held accountable for what it described as violations of the party’s constitution and guidelines.

The Forum warned that it would institute legal action against the national chairman if he fails to step down by June 12, Nigeria’s Democracy Day.

“We are issuing a two-week ultimatum to the national chairman to resign because of incompetence, violation of the party’s constitution, monetisation of the just concluded party primaries and changing the results when it favoured those perceived as not in his camp,” the statement read.

The group further alleged that the APC leadership manipulated outcomes of primary elections across the country to favour preferred candidates.

The Forum also questioned the credibility of the presidential primary election results announced by the Chairman of the APC Presidential Primary Election Committee and former Senate President, Pius Anyim.

According to the results, President Bola Tinubu secured 10,999,162 votes, defeating challenger Stanley Osifo, who polled 16,503 votes. The figures have since generated controversy over claims that the voting numbers exceeded the party’s registered membership.

Raising concerns over the discrepancy, the Forum argued that the APC officially has about eight million registered members, making the announced figures questionable.

“The guidelines stated that only registered members were eligible to vote, yet over 10 million votes were recorded. This suggests that what happened was selection, not election,” the statement added.

The group further lamented that the controversies surrounding the primaries have weakened the party and triggered defections by prominent members. It cited the resignation of former Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege, who left the APC after losing the Delta Central senatorial primary and subsequently joined the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

The Forum also referenced the resignation of Mustapha Bala Dawaki, former Chief of Staff to the APC national chairman, who reportedly left the party after failing to secure the APC ticket for the Dawakin Kudu/Warawa Federal Constituency in Kano State. Dawaki has also reportedly joined the NDC in protest against the outcome of the primaries.