Candidates’ Upload: Opposition not ready for 2027 Polls, APC reacts to INEC’s deadline extension

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: The ruling All Progressives Congress APC has said the failure of opposition political parties to meet the Independent National Electoral Commission’s INEC deadline for the submission of names of candidates for the 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections exposes their unpreparedness.

In a statement on Sunday, the APC said it successfully met INEC’s deadline for the submission of names of its candidates, despite the large number of party candidates contesting on its platform for the various elective offices.

“The All Progressives Congress (APC) is pleased to announce that it successfully met the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) deadline for the submission of names of its candidates for the 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections. Our great Party satisfied this requirement despite the large number of Party candidates contesting on the Party’s platform for the various elective offices,” the statement read.

The party noted that at the request of opposition political parties that had failed to meet the July 11 deadline, INEC granted an extension of the deadline to July 14, 2026.

Earlier, in a statement issued by an INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, the Commission said the deadline in the Revised Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2027 General Election had been extended following an appeal by the Inter-Party Advisory Council IPAC on behalf of political parties who were unable to upload the names and personal particulars of their candidates within the scheduled timeline.

While acknowledging that INEC acted within its statutory powers and administrative discretion in extending the deadline, APC spokesman, Felix Morka said it was noteworthy that the extension was necessitated by the failure of opposition parties to manage their internal processes to comply with INEC’s submission deadline despite having fewer candidates to manage compared to the APC.

“This development provides yet another clear indication of the opposition’s chronic inherent weakness and raises legitimate questions about their operational capacity. Political parties that cannot efficiently conclude their own internal nomination processes cannot possibly be trusted by Nigerians to possess the competence, discipline, or readiness to govern our great nation or its subnational governments,” the statement said.

The APC described as ironical the fact that the same opposition parties had repeatedly peddled what it called false, malicious and unfounded tales that the APC controls and dictates INEC’s decisions, yet turned to the same INEC for respite when they failed to meet the submission deadline.

“It is starkly ironical that the same opposition parties have repeatedly peddled false, malicious and unfounded tales that the APC controls and dictates INEC’s decisions. Yet, as they failed to meet the submission deadline, they shamelessly turned to the same INEC for respite, and were granted an extension.

“And the same APC that would have been the obvious beneficiary if INEC had stood firm on its original deadline, kept its distance, having met the deadline and completed its submission. Again, this underscores the oppositions’ hypocrisy, and true character as peddlers of fake news and merchants of blackmail,” the statement said.

The party said with the successful upload of particulars of all its Presidential, Vice Presidential, Senate, and House of Representatives candidates on the INEC Candidate Nomination Portal, it had again demonstrated its leadership and superior organisational capacity, discipline, and solid commitment to due process.

The APC called on all party leaders, stakeholders, members, and supporters to turn their full attention to the task ahead.

“We must remain focused and continue to strengthen our structures at all levels, increase awareness of the massive achievements under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, deepen grassroots mobilisation, and prepare for a vigorous, issue-based campaign that will earn our great Party a renewed mandate in the 2027 general elections”, it added.

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