Olushola Omogbehin
Months after the 2026 primaries of the ruling All Progressive Party (APC), aggrieved party members, aspirants and their supporters have embraced two options of either approaching the court or move their political structures to opposition parties.
This was basically because of the failure of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to reconcile those who felt cheated by the outcome of the primary of the party.
According to findings by Daily Sun, after the primaries, NWC acted by constituting reconciliation panels that would resolve poat election dispute and restore peace to troubled states but this has not yielded any result..
Dissatisfied that the reconciliation effort of the party may push them out of political relevance, many aggrieved members have resolved to leave the party while some prefer the option of litigation.
Daily Sun reports that many of those defecting to opposition parties command established grassroots structures, loyal followings and considerable electoral influence.
As their exit would definitely affect the membership of the party, it would also potentially puts governorship and National Assembly seats at risk.
In many states with close electoral margins, this could complicate the party’s calculations in the presidential election as this is already seen in many states.
In Ondo for instance, the crisis has moved from party offices to the courtroom where aspirants linked to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa have sued APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the results of some primaries.
Among them is Pastor Akingboye Akinleke David, who is challenging the emergence of Donald Ojogo as APC candidate for the Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency.
Former Inspector-General of Police in Nasarawa and Mohammed Adamu Abubakar, have moved from APC to the Social Democratic Party after losing the governorship primary while lawmaker Alex Egbona from Cross River abandoned APC for the PDP in searched of his third term in the House of Representatives.
Senator Iyiola Omisore has also rejected reconciliation since being screened out of the governorship primary and has moved with about 20 of his loyalists to Accord.
Political observers have said that protracted dispute could weaken APC’s in many states in 2027 thereby giving opposition chances to have their ways..
