APC Says Opposition's Missed Deadline Shows They Are Not Ready

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that the opposition parties' failure to meet the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deadline for submitting candidates for the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections shows they are not prepared for the elections.

In a statement on Sunday, the APC's National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, shared that the ruling party met the July 11 deadline for uploading the names of its candidates. This was despite having a larger number of candidates across different positions.

"The All Progressives Congress 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 APC pointed out that INEC extended the deadline to July 14 after the opposition parties asked for more time to complete their submissions. The ruling party said that while INEC acted within its powers to grant the extension, it showed the opposition's failure to manage their internal processes.

"While INEC acted within its statutory powers and administrative discretion in extending the deadline for opposition parties to upload names of their candidates, it is noteworthy that the extension was necessitated by the stark 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," it said.

The APC raised concerns about the operational ability of the opposition parties. "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 stated.

The APC also accused opposition parties of going against their previous claims about INEC. "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 shows the oppositions’ hypocrisy, and true character as peddlers of fake news and merchants of blackmail," the party said.

The APC said that successfully uploading the details of its presidential, vice-presidential, Senate, and House of Representatives candidates shows its organizational strength and commitment to the rules.

"With the successful upload of particulars of all its Presidential, Vice Presidential, Senate, and House of Representatives candidates on the INEC Candidate Nomination Portal, APC has, again, demonstrated its leadership and superior organizational capacity, discipline, and solid commitment to due process," the party said.

The APC urged its members and supporters to rally together ahead of the 2027 elections. "As we conclude this important phase of the electoral process, we call 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 Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, deepen grassroots mobilization, and prepare for a vigorous, issue-based campaign that will earn our great Party a renewed mandate in the 2027 general elections," it added.