The All Progressives Congress (APC) has uploaded the nomination details of 13 governorship candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) candidate nomination portal as the party races to beat the August 8 deadline for submissions.
A senior party source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment on the matter, disclosed that the APC had yet to upload the names of its state Houses of Assembly candidates due to technical glitches on the INEC portal.
The source said the party’s ICT department had processed the nomination details of 13 governorship candidates since the submission window opened on July 18, while documents for five other candidates were being processed.
According to the source, the candidates whose details have so far been uploaded include Dr Obafemi Hamzat (Lagos), Solomon Adeola (Ogun), Umar Bago (Niger), Ahmed Wadada (Nasarawa), Yakubu Danladi (Kwara), Hyacinth Alia (Benue), Ahmed Galadima (Adamawa) and Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau).
He said, “So far, the party has uploaded the details of 13 governorship candidates, while the documents of five others are being processed by the ICT department.
“We are confident of completing the upload of all 28 candidates and their deputies before the August 8 INEC deadline.
“The uploading of state House of Assembly candidates’ details is yet to begin due to technical challenges with the INEC portal.
“However, our ICT team has already scanned and prepared the documents for immediate upload once the issues are resolved.”
However, the APC Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, told The Punch that the party remained confident of meeting the deadline, expressing optimism that the ongoing reconciliation efforts would resolve grievances arising from the emergence of its candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“In the coming days, the party will complete the exercise of uploading our candidate list. We expect the candidates to show loyalty to the policies of the party with which they are going to campaign.
“The party is campaigning on the mantra of Renewed Hope, and therefore, they should renew the hope of the people and make sure that they work towards delivering democratic dividends.
“They are going to work for the progress of the people and the progress of the country, and they are going to work in a way that will make Nigeria a better place.
“As for the disaffection that the emergence of some of these candidates may have caused, the reconciliation committee is working, and we are hoping that, at the end of the day, all grievances will be resolved. All the aggrieved parties will come together and forge ahead,” Ibrahim said.
Under the timetable released by INEC, political parties are expected to submit the nomination forms of governorship and state Houses of Assembly candidates between July 18 and August 8, 2026.
The commission is scheduled to publish the personal particulars of governorship and state Houses of Assembly candidates on August 29, while September 19 has been fixed as the deadline for the withdrawal or substitution of candidates.