The National Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ajibola Basiru, has defended the party’s decision to centralize the final announcement of results from its ongoing National Assembly primaries, insisting that the move is aimed at safeguarding the integrity of the process rather than manipulating outcomes.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News PRIME TIME on Monday, Basiru dismissed concerns that the directive could fuel suspicion or enable the alteration of results at the national level.
The APC chieftain clarified that contrary to claims circulating in some quarters, the party’s circular did not stop collation and declaration processes at the field level, but only reserved the final pronouncement of winners for the party’s national headquarters.
According to him, results would still be collated at the local government and constituency levels before being transmitted to the national leadership for final ratification and announcement.
Basiru explained that the arrangement was designed to give aggrieved aspirants and stakeholders an opportunity to lodge complaints and seek redress before official winners are announced.
“I don’t think that is actually a correct submission of the circular,” he said during the interview, while referencing the party directive signed by the APC National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Muhammad Argungu.
He stated that the National Working Committee of the APC remains the highest decision-making body of the party outside the National Convention and the National Executive Committee, and therefore has the authority to review disputes arising from the primaries.
“The logic of this process is for us to be able to look at whatever complaint that might have arisen so that it could be addressed before a final pronouncement is made,” Basiru said.
The APC National Secretary argued that the centralized process should be seen as a mechanism for ensuring fairness and transparency rather than an attempt to undermine internal democracy.
He maintained that complaints emerging from the field would receive “fair assessment” before the party formally declares winners and losers in the elections.
The clarification comes amid growing controversy surrounding the conduct of APC senatorial primaries across several states, including Delta, where disputes and allegations of irregularities have trailed some contests.
