Pre-primary screening: Tension mounts as APC panels disqualify over 150 aspirants

Petitions, protests, legal threats and accusations of imposition have trailed the ongoing screening of aspirants by ahead of the 2027 general elections, exposing widening cracks within the party over the use of consensus arrangements and the disqualification of aspirants. Investigations by The that several contenders were screened out ahead of the official release of results.

Party sources told in Jos on Tuesday that the screening committees had completed their assignment, although the national leadership of the party had yet to publish the outcome. The delay, insiders showed, has heightened anxiety among aspirants and supporters, with growing fears that the exercise could deepen existing divisions within the state chapter. When contacted, the Plateau APC chairman, Rufus Bature, declined to disclose the number of aspirants allegedly disqualified or comment on the mood within the party.

“What I can tell you for now is that we have screened all the aspirants, but the result of the screening committee is not yet out,” Bature showed. “We are still waiting for them to release the results. So, nobody will tell anything further until the result is made public. And sure, very soon, the committee will do that,”.

However, some aspirants told that they had been verbally informed of their disqualification without receiving any formal communication from the party.