The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kadunan State deepened as former Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Yusuf Ibrahim Zailani, former Senator Danjuma Laah, and other aggrieved aspirants rejected the outcome of the party’s senatorial primaries, insisting that no valid exercise took place across the state.
The growing discontent has exposed widening cracks within the Kaduna APC ahead of the 2027 general elections with the aggrieved members staging a protest within Kaduna metropolis.
Zailani, a Kaduna Central senatorial aspirant, described the exercise as a “sham,” maintaining that party members across the seven local government areas of the zone waited for hours without seeing electoral officials or voting materials.
Addressing journalists through the Deputy Director-General of his campaign council, Hon. Cafra Caino, the former Speaker said the process failed to meet the standards approved by the APC National Working Committee (NWC).
“Party faithful were at various ward and party offices for the exercise and after several hours of waiting in vain, there were no election materials in sight,” Caino said.
He added that the campaign council could not recognise the announced results because they did not reflect the will of party members.
“Consequently, the Right Honourable Yusuf Ibrahim Zailani Campaign Council unequivocally rejects the purported result announced for the Kaduna Central Senatorial Zone primary election. We do not recognise the outcome as a true reflection of the will of APC members in the zone,” he stated.
The council demanded immediate intervention of the APC National Working Committee and the Kaduna State Electoral Committee, calling for a fresh primary election conducted in line with democratic principles and party guidelines.
The controversy escalated further as other APC supporters and aggrieved aspirants demanded for the cancellation of the primaries conducted in Kaduna North, Kaduna Central, and Kaduna South senatorial districts.
Leading the protest were former Senator Danjuma Laah, Michael Ayuba Auta, Yusuf Bala Ikara, and other dissatisfied aspirants.
“There was no APC primaries in Kaduna. Give us our preferred candidate, and “APC must save democracy.” they claimed while addressing news men.
Speaking ,Senator Laah accused the party leadership of abandoning the direct primary system approved by the APC NWC.
“The National Working Committee officially approved direct primaries for the exercise, but what was conducted was an unauthorised delegate system,” Laah alleged.
According to the aggrieved aspirants, party members were denied the opportunity to vote at the ward level as stipulated by party guidelines.
They particularly faulted the Kaduna South senatorial primary that produced Senator Sunday Marshall Katung as winner, alleging that the process lacked transparency and proper monitoring.
He further claimed that electoral materials and officials were absent in several wards and polling centres, arguing that the exercise violated Section 84 of the Electoral Act 2022 as well as Article 20 of the APC constitution on nomination procedures and internal democracy.
The group called on the APC National Working Committee, the party’s appeal committee, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to nullify the exercise and conduct fresh primaries across the three senatorial districts.
