Fresh controversy may be brewing in the All Progressives Congress over its 2027 National Assembly primaries after the party restored six serving senators to its ticket despite the earlier declaration of other aspirants as winners.
The development comes as the Independent National Electoral Commission warned that it would reject any candidate submitted by political parties whose names do not correspond with the results of primaries monitored and uploaded by the commission.
Documents obtained showed that the APC National Working Committee, acting on the recommendations of its Primary Election Appeal Committee, reviewed the outcome of senatorial and House of Representatives primaries in several states and replaced some of the earlier declared winners.
The changes affected Kogi, Abia, Benue, Taraba, Ondo, Niger, Kwara, Kaduna and Ebonyi states.
The revised list restored the tickets of six serving senators, namely Sunday Karimi of Kogi West, Emmanuel Udende of Benue North-East, Titus Zam of Benue North-West, Shuaibu Isa Lau of Taraba North, Adeniyi Adegbonmire of Ondo Central and Olajide Ipinsagba of Ondo North.
In Abia South, Prince Paul Ikonne, a former Chief Executive Officer of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority, replaced Edinburgh Erondu.
One of the major casualties of the review was former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, whose earlier victory in the Benue North-East primary was nullified in favour of the incumbent senator, Emmanuel Udende.
The reversal followed weeks of complaints by several serving lawmakers who either lost their return tickets or were screened out during the APC primaries.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio had earlier assured affected lawmakers that the party leadership was engaging the NWC and President Bola Tinubu to review petitions arising from the exercise.
Akpabio, who secured the APC ticket for Akwa Ibom North-West through affirmation, had said the Senate leadership was working to reduce the number of disappointed lawmakers after the primaries.
More than 20 senators, mostly APC members, lost their return tickets or were screened out.
Some of the affected lawmakers included those who recently defected from opposition parties to the APC, among them Benson Agadaga of Bayelsa East, Garba Maidoki of Kebbi South and Banigo Ipalibo of Rivers West.
Other prominent casualties included Deputy Senate Leader Oyelola Ashiru of Kwara South, Ned Nwoko of Delta North, Neda Imasuen of Edo South, Jibrin Isah of Kogi East, Olubiyi Fadeyi of Osun Central, Danjuma Goje of Gombe Central, Gbenga Daniel of Ogun East and Osita Izunaso, who reportedly stepped aside for Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma.
Party sources said the restoration of some lawmakers followed intense lobbying and interventions by governors, traditional rulers, party leaders and the Presidency as the APC moved to contain the fallout from the primaries ahead of the 2027 elections.
A senior party official said many serving APC lawmakers were still unsure of their fate because the final nomination process had not been fully concluded.
According to the source, several states were yet to return INEC nomination forms, while governors remained central to deciding who would receive the forms in many states.
The source said only senators cleared through high-level intervention stood a better chance of making the final list.
In Ondo State, party sources said President Tinubu and the APC leadership intervened in the dispute between Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa and the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, over control of National and State Assembly tickets.
A compromise was reportedly reached to balance the interests of both camps and prevent a deeper crisis within the party.
A similar arrangement was said to have been brokered in Benue State to manage the rivalry between Governor Hyacinth Alia and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume.