Thirty governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), including Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and former Oyo State Secretary to the Government, Sarafadeen Alli, have reportedly been cleared for the party’s primaries ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Party sources confirmed the development to Vanguard but disclosed that a flood of petitions had delayed the official release of the screening report.
The APC had earlier announced plans to publish the names of cleared aspirants on May 13 as part of preparations to meet the timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The party reportedly screened no fewer than 2,980 aspirants for various elective positions, including one presidential slot, 28 governorship positions, 109 Senate seats, 360 House of Representatives seats and 991 state assembly positions.
However, as of late Wednesday, the screening report had yet to be released.
A senior APC official told Vanguard that the party was still reviewing the report to ensure all complaints and petitions were properly addressed.
“We are still working on the screening report to make sure everything goes well,” the source said.
When reminded that May 13 was almost over, the source responded, “The day is not over.”
The official further disclosed that several petitions were submitted against aspirants by different screening panels.
“For instance, one of the panels received 10 petitions and the petitions have to be treated on their merit,” the source added.
The party source dismissed reports that Governor Fubara had been disqualified from the exercise.
“Nooo! No governor has been booted out. The party has always supported its governors. Some of them like Uzodimma got automatic clearance,” the source stated.
According to party insiders, the APC leadership is working towards achieving consensus arrangements in several states to avoid post-primary litigation and internal divisions.
However, where consensus fails, the party plans to conduct direct primaries in line with the Electoral Act.
“We know some of the high-profile aspirants don’t want to consent and are ready to go to court. We don’t want that,” another source said.
Another party source disclosed that former Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who is seeking the APC governorship ticket in Oyo State, may face challenges during the clearance process.
According to the source, the former Minister has issues and may not be cleared.
The source, however, confirmed that Sarafadeen Alli had already secured the backing of the party leadership.
Meanwhile, the battle for the Ogun East senatorial ticket between Governor Dapo Abiodun and Senator Gbenga Daniel remains unresolved.
According to party sources, efforts to secure a consensus arrangement between both camps have yet to yield results.
“The matter has not been settled. Daniel is not ready to consent to consensus,” the source said.