The national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has barred members of its National Assembly Primary Election Committees from conducting media briefings in states where the party’s primaries are being held, insisting that all official announcements and result briefings must be centralized in Abuja.
The directive was contained in an internal memo dated May 17, 2026, and signed by the APC National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Muhammad Argungu.
According to the memo addressed to all Chairmen of National Assembly Primary Election Committees, the party said established procedures already exist for the collation and announcement of results from the primaries.
The procedures outlined by the party include ward collation, local government area collation, designated constituency collation centres, and eventual submission of results and reports to the APC national headquarters in Abuja.
The APC leadership stressed that no committee assigned to any state is permitted to independently brief the media or publicly announce outcomes during the process.
“Any official briefing, where necessary, shall be conducted exclusively in Abuja after the submission of all results,” the memo stated.
The development comes amid heightened political tension and intense lobbying surrounding the APC National Assembly primaries ahead of the 2027 general elections. The party had earlier constituted various primary election and appeal committees for the exercises across the country.
Political observers believe the latest directive may be aimed at tightening control over information management, preventing conflicting declarations, and avoiding disputes capable of triggering controversy within the ruling party.
However, critics within opposition circles are already questioning whether the centralized announcement process could reduce transparency at the state level during the primaries.
