Although, the process of appeal has been announced for those who are dissatisfied with the screening process and their disqualification from the primary, the decisions of the screening committee do not look like ones that can be successfully contested and overturned as it is more about political gamesmanship and horse-trading and less about fair, transparent and credible clearing of candidates for the primary election.
In some ways, the build-up to the 2027 general elections is different from previous elections in recent memory, especially in the area of how political parties select candidates to be their flagbearers in next year’s elections. In the amended electoral act passed into law in March, an indirect primary, where selected or elected delegates, vote for who will be the candidate of the party for an elective public office, was scrapped, leaving only direct primary and consensus as the acceptable and legally recognised methods through which anyone seeking to vie for public office can emerge as his/her political party candidate.
Many have voiced their concern and faulted the expunging of the indirect primary option from the new electoral act. They opined that for a nation where there is an acute infrastructural deficit, basic record-keeping is a herculean task and people are constantly looking for ways to game the system and shortchange others to achieve their political goals, no political party can boast of the massive logistical requirements, the top-notch organisation and total discipline needed to conduct a direct primary. They also argued that going through the consensus route could breed dissatisfaction, disenchantment and animosity among party members which could in turn undermine the chances of the political parties in the elections proper as vindictive and spiteful party members who felt cheated and shortchanged would work against the party.
To avoid the tedious, cumbersome and tempestuous nature of direct primary, most parties have settled for consensus as a method of candidates With the deadline for the primary election fast approaching, political parties, especially the ruling party, have begun announcing their candidates for different positions. But with this announcement comes a plethora of intrigues. The announcement carries with it the result of eccentricity, past missteps and political miscalculations with some already counting the cost of being schemed out in an arrangement that will essentially determine the trajectory of their political career.
Across many states of the Federation, losers and winners are already emerging from the primary election arrangement and while those who don’t have it their way have taken the outcome in good faith others simply feel betrayed and unjustly treated. Many of those who belong to the latter group have begun plans to pursue their political ambition somewhere else.
In Rivers, the running cold war and power tussle between the state governor, Sim Fubara, and the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, for control of the state political structures played a crucial role in deciding who got cleared to contest the primary election for the 2027 election in the state. On Sunday, the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state, released the list of cleared and disqualified aspirants ahead of the party’s primaries for the 2027 general elections.
In what appeared to be a referendum on the warring political gladiators, 33 aspirants were cleared to participate in the primaries, while 65 others were not cleared. Interestingly, all 32 aspirants believed to be Governor Fubara’s men were disqualified from the exercise while serving members of the Rivers State House of Assembly loyal to the minister, were cleared.
Although, the process of appeal has been announced for those who are dissatisfied with the screening process and their disqualification from the primary, the decisions of the screening committee do not look like ones that can be successfully contested and overturned as it is more about political gamesmanship and horse-trading and less about fair, transparent and credible clearing of candidates for the primary election.
The disqualification of Fubara’s loyalists is a huge blow to his second-term ambition and will undoubtedly leave him in a quagmire. It is a sign of unpalatable events that are to follow and an indication that he too is walking a tightrope. The governor has not made any comment publicly since the screening exercise. It is a clear indication that things may now bode well for him in the future. Even if he somehow gets the APC governorship ticket and eventually wins a second term he will have to contend with the very lawmakers and other forces that undermined him and orchestrated the crisis he faced in his first term.
In Gombe State, the unfolding intrigues and drama regarding how candidates emerged, particularly the governorship candidate, are far more tense. Last week, the APC in the state announced consensus candidates for different elective positions. The party announced Dr Jamilu Shaiyaku Gwamna as its consensus governorship candidate for the 2027 election, dropping former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, from the race.
The decision was reached during an enlarged stakeholders’ meeting presided over by the state party leader and Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya. The party leadership in the state said It said the move was aimed at strengthening internal cohesion, minimising internal wrangling, and projecting a united front ahead of the elections.
The consensus arrangement was also adopted for other elective positions in the state, as candidates were chosen for the three senatorial districts, six House of Representatives seats and all 24 State House of Assembly constituencies.
For the Senate, the party adopted Mohammed Ahmadu Deba for Gombe Central, Jerry Damara for Gombe South, and Governor Inuwa Yahaya for Gombe North. In the House of Representatives category, candidates include Usman Bello Kumo (Akko), Inuwa Garba (Yamaltu/Deba), Ali Isa JC (Balanga/Billiri), Fatima Binta Bello (Kaltungo/Shongom), Saddam Bello (Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye), and Jamilu Shabewa (Dukku/Nafada).
However, Pantami has vehemently rejected the consensus arrangement, calling it an injustice and insisting on direct primary. He said he would be victorious and would emerge as the governorship candidate of the party if a direct primary were conducted. He vowed to challenge the consensus arrangement even if it cost him his life.
“I will challenge this injustice of the Gombe APC governorship consensus even if I lose my life doing it. If it’s a direct primary, everybody knows, we will win. If there’s no justice, I will fight it legally, a fight like never seen before in Nigeria,” he said in an interview with BBC Hausa. Last Friday, Pantami, ignoring the consensus arrangement, submitted his governorship nomination form to the national headquarters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja.
In Katsina state, APC member of the House of Representatives from Katsina State, Shehu Tafoki, has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after the party refused to adopt him as the consensus candidate for the 2027 general election. Following in the footsteps of Tafoki, who currently represents Kankara/Faskari/Sabuwa federal constituency at the national assembly, the party’s central zonal youth leader, Ismail Yandaki, also left the party for PDP after he failed to get a consensus ticket to represent Kaita in the House of Assembly. Surajo Abduljabbar, who sought the APC consensus ticket to contest the Bakori/Danja seat, followed suit.
In Kano State, seven APC aspirants for the Kano Central Senatorial District have shelved their ambitions after the party adopted former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau as its candidate. The alignment that produced Shekarau as the consensus candidate is not without any hiccup as the leading and major contender in the race was noticeably absent.
As the deadline for the candidates’ emergence approaches and we inch closer to elections proper, the scale and depth of the discontent and grievances of those unhappy and affected by the outcome of the primary election and consensus arrangement will become glaring and to what extent such feelings of dissatisfaction and disaffection will affect the political parties involved during elections is something that will be determined by the electorate.
