By Amina Samuel
A coalition of frontline senatorial and House of Representatives aspirants under the All Progressives Congress in Kaduna State has rejected the outcome of the party’s National Assembly primaries, describing the process as a “complete sham.”
The aggrieved aspirants, under the Coalition of Kaduna Electoral Aspirants, on Sunday issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the party leadership to nullify what they called a flawed consensus arrangement and the purported primaries conducted on May 16, 2026.
Addressing journalists at the Nigeria Union of Journalists Press Centre in Kaduna, the group accused party leaders of imposing candidates without the consent of aspirants and shutting party members out of the democratic process.
The coalition, led by former Senator Danjuma Laah, alleged widespread violations of the APC constitution and nomination guidelines during the exercise.
Laah said the process ignored laid-down rules guiding voting after the screening of aspirants ahead of the primaries.
He said, “Party members were denied their constitutional right to vote for candidates of their choice.
“Worse still, the committees put together for the exercise kept saying they were acting under the instructions of the Governor of Kaduna State.”
The aspirants further accused the Kaduna APC executive of pretending not to be aware of alleged irregularities surrounding the nomination process for House of Representatives seats across the state.
According to them, the development has triggered anger and rejection among party stakeholders.
“From our collective standpoint, the conduct of these primaries fell far short of the standards we expect and deserve. The primary election was, in essence, a complete sham,” the group declared.
They warned that the crisis could weaken the party’s chances ahead of the 2027 general elections if urgent steps were not taken to address the grievances.
The coalition also expressed concern over what it described as silence and lack of direction from the party leadership regarding the forthcoming senatorial primaries.
“This alarming situation is made more distressing by the absence of any communication or guidance related to the forthcoming senatorial primary elections,” the statement added.
The aspirants alleged that the crisis was more pronounced in Kaduna Central Senatorial District, where they claimed the consensus committee headed by Deputy Governor Hadiza Balarabe attempted to impose former senator Shehu Sani as the sole candidate.
They maintained that the move violated the democratic rights of other aspirants, including former Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Yusuf Zailani, and northern activist, Shettima Yerima, who reportedly rejected the consensus arrangement.
Among the aggrieved aspirants are Yusuf Bala Ikara, Mohammed Mu’azu Makaddas, Yerima Usman Shettima, Yusuf Zailani, Michael Ayuba Auta, Bashir Yusuf, Augustine Beguwa, Abdulazeez Abubakar Kaka, Yahaya Idris and Sani Abdulkadir.
