APC meets INEC deadline, uploads candidates for 2027 elections

The All Progressives Congress has finished uploading its candidates for all elective positions before the 2027 general elections. This was done ahead of the deadline from the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The party's National Chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, shared this news on Sunday. He called the early completion a sign of the APC’s strong organization, good coordination, and readiness for the elections.

The APC's announcement arrived as other political parties hurried to meet INEC’s deadline for submitting candidates through its online portal.

INEC had first set the deadline for Saturday, August 8, 2026. But it later extended this by three days to Tuesday, August 11, after some parties asked for more time to finish their submissions.

Yilwatda noted that the APC completed its submissions before the original deadline. This included candidates for positions from State Houses of Assembly to the presidential election.

He said that this achievement shows the party has moved beyond just political slogans. It is now building the structures and systems needed to run a large political organization.

“The APC has once again shown that we are ready to govern Nigeria. We did not wait until the last minute.

“We planned well, coordinated our structures, and made sure our candidates were successfully uploaded before the original deadline. This is what organization, discipline and responsible political leadership mean,” Yilwatda said.

The APC chairman also mentioned in a statement from his Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki, that this exercise tested the party’s ability to coordinate its structures, candidates, and officials across Nigeria.

He explained that the process involved nominating, documenting, verifying, and submitting thousands of candidates from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Yilwatda said successfully completing this process is especially “significant given the size of the APC’s nationwide structure, which covers senatorial districts, federal constituencies, local government areas, and wards.”

This process required close teamwork between the party’s national secretariat, state chapters, candidates, and election teams.

Yilwatda also made a broader point about the ability of political parties that want to lead Nigeria.

“Governance is not a trial. Managing a country as complex as Nigeria needs planning, coordination, discipline, skill, and the ability to meet deadlines.

“If a political organization cannot effectively manage its own internal processes, coordinate its candidates, and meet basic deadlines, Nigerians should question its readiness to run the nation,” he added.

He urged voters to look past campaign promises when judging political parties before the 2027 elections. He said internal organization, following electoral rules, and managing people and resources should also be considered.

He said the APC’s early completion of the candidate-upload process should not just be seen as an administrative success but as proof of its readiness for the elections.

This development also gives the APC more time to prepare for other important tasks. These include campaign coordination, candidate engagement, grassroots mobilization, policy communication, and reconciliation within its various structures.

“The work has just started. Finishing the upload early gives us confidence, but it also puts more responsibility on us. We must stay united, disciplined, and focused.

“We must share our message of Renewed Hope with every community and show Nigerians that the APC is not just ready to contest elections; we are ready to keep providing responsible leadership for Nigeria,” he added.

The 2027 elections are expected to be very competitive, with opposition parties trying to take the presidency from the APC and gain ground in federal and state positions.

The APC’s candidate-submission process is one of the early steps in the electoral calendar. Parties must send details of their candidates to INEC within the time set by the electoral timetable after finishing their internal nomination processes.

With the deadline extended to August 11, other political parties now have extra time to complete their submissions.

For the APC, Yilwatda said the focus has now shifted to the next stage of preparations. The party aims to strengthen its structures and defend its position before the elections.

He praised members of the National Working Committee, state party leaders, candidates, election management teams, and others who helped complete the process.

He called the achievement a collective effort and said the party would keep strengthening its structures before the 2027 elections. Yilwatda also said the ruling party would continue to prepare Nigerians for a choice based on “competence, continuity, stability, and national development” in the next general election.