The All Progressives Congress campaign team has declared support for Ustaz Abubakar as the rightful winner of the Kogi West primaries, amid ongoing disputes within the party over the outcome of the senatorial nomination process in Kogi State.
The controversy surrounding the primaries comes as political parties continue internal preparations for future elections, where senatorial tickets remain highly contested due to their strategic importance in national politics.
Kogi West Senatorial District has historically been a competitive political zone, with multiple aspirants often emerging during party primaries, leading to internal disagreements over delegate voting and result declarations. The APC, like other major political parties, conducts primaries to select candidates for legislative positions, a process often supervised by party officials and monitored by stakeholders at both state and national levels.
Members of the APC campaign team stated that Ustaz Abubakar should be recognised as the legitimate winner of the Kogi West primaries, citing concerns over the conduct and outcome of the nomination exercise. They argued that available records from the delegate voting process indicated that Abubakar secured the highest number of votes during the exercise conducted to determine the party’s senatorial candidate.
The campaign team maintained that the Kogi West primaries were marred by disputes over result collation, which they claim has led to conflicting interpretations of the final outcome within party structures. They urged the party leadership to uphold what they described as the authentic results of the exercise and ensure that the correct candidate is recognised in line with internal party rules.
The statement from the campaign team added to ongoing tensions within the APC over the senatorial nomination process in Kogi West, where competing claims over victory have emerged from different political stakeholders. The Kogi West primaries dispute has also drawn attention from party members and political observers who are monitoring how the APC resolves internal disagreements ahead of broader electoral contests.
The controversy over the Kogi West primaries highlights recurring challenges in internal party democracy, particularly in managing delegate-based voting systems and result disputes.
Political analysts note that unresolved primary disputes can affect party cohesion, candidate legitimacy, and grassroots mobilisation ahead of general elections. The development also underscores the importance of transparent collation processes and effective dispute resolution mechanisms within political parties.
