As the ruling party prepares for the 2027 general election, its most formidable challenge may not come from a fragmented opposition but from within.

Ordinarily, the submission of candidates’ names to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) signals the conclusion of months of consultations, negotiations, primary elections and appeals, allowing parties to shift their attention to campaigns.

For the APC, however, the release of its final candidates lists has produced the opposite effect.

Rather than closing internal contests, the process has triggered fresh disputes in several states.

Aspirants who believe they legitimately secured the party’s tickets are questioning the credibility of the nomination process, filing petitions, consulting lawyers and urging the party’s leadership to review decisions they consider unjust.

The scale of the controversy became evident after the primaries.

Party sources said the APC received over 700 petitions challenging the conduct and outcome of its nationwide primaries.

Following a review of reports submitted by the Primary Election Appeal Committees, the National Working Committee (NWC) led by the National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda upheld many of the original results but also approved changes affecting candidates in several states before forwarding the final list to INEC.

Although the review was intended to address complaints and correct procedural irregularities, it generated fresh controversy in states where affected aspirants alleged that the exercise altered the outcome of duly conducted primaries.

Among the states affected are Benue, Ondo, Kwara, Kaduna, Niger, Kogi, Taraba, Ebonyi and Abia. Party officials defended the exercise, insisting that the decisions complied with the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act and were necessary to correct genuine irregularities.

However, some displeased members have shifted their complaints from the party secretariat to the courtroom while others have defected to opposition platforms.

In Benue State, for instance, Sesugh Akaagba and other aggrieved APC aspirants instituted Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1429/2026 before the Federal High Court in Abuja against the APC and INEC.

The plaintiffs alleged that although they emerged from duly conducted primaries monitored by INEC, the party attempted to substitute their names before submitting its final list to the electoral commission. They are asking the court to compel the APC to recognise what they described as the authentic outcome of the primaries and restrain it from forwarding any altered list to INEC.

The court subsequently directed all parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the suit.

The Benue dispute has attracted considerable attention because of the state’s growing political importance to the APC. Supporters of some affected aspirants questioned the basis for the substitutions and demanded greater transparency from the party’s national leadership. Political observers believe the outcome of the case could influence not only the fortunes of the affected aspirants, but also the party’s cohesion in one of its strategic strongholds.

Ondo State has also produced one of the broadest legal challenges to the APC’s post-primary process. Several aspirants, including Gbenga Elegbeleye, Dr. Taiwo Fasoranti, Leke Akingboye, Rasaq Obe, Kayode Ijalana, Oyerinmade Matthew and Olumuyiwa Daramola have approached the court over what they described as the unlawful substitution of names after the party’s primaries. The plaintiffs argued that the names eventually submitted to INEC did not reflect the actual outcome of the primaries and asked the court to nullify the submitted list and direct the APC to recognise candidates they claimed validly emerged from the exercise.

Another major controversy has unfolded in Kogi State, where the replacement of Samuel Bamidele Aro with incumbent Senator Sunday Karimi as the APC candidate for Kogi West Senatorial District has been generating strong opposition. Supporters of Aro argue that he validly emerged from the primary election and maintained that Karimi neither challenged the result through the party’s appeal process nor obtained any court judgment nullifying the exercise before the final list was reviewed. The disagreement has fuelled threats of litigation and widened divisions among party stakeholders in the state.

The controversy over the APC’s candidate lists has also spread to Abia State, where the revision of the party’s National Assembly nominations triggered one of the most contentious internal disputes in the South-East.

Among the changes, Edinburgh Erondu was replaced by Prince Paul Ikonne as the APC candidate for Abia South Senatorial District, while Chris Nkwonta was substituted with Samuel Okezie for the Ukwa East/Ukwa West Federal Constituency. The revisions sparked protests from aggrieved aspirants and further exposed divisions within the state chapter. Party leaders in the state rejected the revised list and circulated a separate list of candidates, accusing the national leadership of disregarding the outcome of the primaries.

In Oyo State, six governorship aspirants rejected the emergence of Senator Sharafadeen Alli as the APC governorship candidate, alleging that the primary election did not reflect the wishes of party members. The aggrieved aspirants accused the leadership of compromising internal democracy and warned that they would explore legal options if their grievances were not addressed through the party’s internal mechanisms.

In Delta State, former Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege rejected the outcome of the Delta Central Senatorial primary after the APC declared incumbent Senator Ede Dafinone as the winner. Omo-Agege has defected to the NDC with his supporters, weakening the state chapter.

In Lagos and Ogun states, aggrieved aspirants have complained about alleged irregularities in the conduct of legislative and governorship primaries, while some have warned that they could seek judicial intervention if reconciliation efforts fail.

Beyond the states already in court, the APC has continued to grapple with complaints in Kwara, Kaduna, Niger, Taraba and Ebonyi. While many of the grievances have remained at the level of petitions and appeals to the party leadership, they reflect the depth of dissatisfaction among some aspirants who believe the nomination process did not comply with the party’s guidelines.

In Kwara, dissatisfied stakeholders had appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Working Committee (NWC) to intervene in disputes arising from the nomination process, warning that unresolved grievances could weaken party cohesion in a state regarded as strategically important to the APC.

Similarly, stakeholders in Kaduna and Niger states have continued to press for broader inclusion in the distribution of party tickets, arguing that the selection process failed to accommodate key interests. Although many of the disagreements have not yet resulted in litigation, they have generated sustained pressure on the party’s leadership to review aspects of the nomination exercise.

The growing number of lawsuits and petitions has heightened concerns within the ruling party. Court cases consume time, resources and political energy that could otherwise be devoted to campaign planning and voter mobilisation. They also create uncertainty around candidates, making it difficult for party structures to settle into campaign activities while legal disputes remain unresolved.

Beyond the courtroom lies an even greater political challenge. Behind every unsuccessful aspirant is a network of supporters, coordinators, financiers and grassroots mobilisers whose commitment often proves decisive during election campaigns. Managing those competing interests has always been one of the most delicate responsibilities of party leadership.

Political observers argue that disappointed aspirants do not always defect immediately after losing party tickets. Some remain within the party but quietly distance themselves from campaign activities, withhold financial support or redirect their political structures elsewhere. Such anti-party activities are often more damaging than open defections because they are difficult to detect and even harder to contain.

Others choose a different path by joining rival political parties in search of fresh opportunities. Nigeria’s political history is replete with examples of politicians who failed to secure nominations in one party only to emerge as candidates on the platforms of another. The APC has already experienced such a setback in Nasarawa State, where former Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, who contested the party’s governorship primary, resigned from the APC and joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) after expressing dissatisfaction with the outcome of the exercise. In Niger, aggrieved party members, some of whom were former political office holders and those that lost the primary elections into various positions recently pulled out of the party and joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The defectors included former commissioners, former local council chairmen, former councillors and political appointees who served under the immediate past administration in the state.

They were led by Alhaji Maikil Bmitosahi, former Chief of Staff to ex-governor Abubakar Sani Bello, who accused the Bago administration of operating what he described as a one-man government.

For many analysts, the APC’s current challenge extends beyond the nomination of candidates. It is fundamentally about preserving party unity at a time when opposition parties are closely monitoring developments for opportunities to recruit influential politicians dissatisfied with the outcome of the primaries. History offers sobering lessons. The APC leadership would be mindful of the Zamfara experience in 2019, when the party lost all the elective offices it had won after the Supreme Court ruled that it failed to conduct valid primary elections in accordance with the law. The landmark judgment demonstrated that failures in a party’s internal processes can ultimately determine electoral outcomes, regardless of popularity at the polls.

A similar lesson emerged in Rivers State during the same election cycle. Prolonged disputes over the conduct of APC primaries prevented the party from fielding candidates in the general election, effectively handing political advantage to the opposition without a contest.

Although the current disputes differ in their specific circumstances, they reinforce the same lesson: internal conflicts that are poorly managed can produce consequences far beyond the nomination process itself. Litigation, defections and prolonged factional battles have the potential to weaken campaign structures and undermine voter confidence before electioneering even begins.

As pressure mounts on the APC to resolve disputes arising from its primaries, party stakeholders have continued to urge aggrieved aspirants to exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms before resorting to litigation.

One of those voices is Comrade Okpokwu Ogenyi, former Special Adviser on Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to the immediate past APC National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. He maintains that the party’s candidate selection process should be allowed to run its full course before members seek judicial intervention.

According to Ogenyi, the NWC is still concluding aspects of the nomination process, including the issuance of certificates of return, so aspirants should exercise restraint while the party completes its internal procedures.

He argued that premature litigation could deepen divisions within the party and complicate reconciliation efforts.

“Those who have gone to court should ask themselves under what authority they are litigating when the party has not completed its internal processes. What if those eventually recognised by the party are among those already in court? They could end up challenging themselves,” he said.

He urged party members to respect internal mechanisms and embrace the principle of party supremacy, stressing that every political contest inevitably produces winners and losers.

“In every state there can only be one governor and only three senators. Those who did not secure the party’s ticket should remain committed to the party instead of taking actions capable of creating unnecessary divisions ahead of the 2027 general election,” he added.

Responding to allegations of irregularities in the conduct of some primaries, Ogenyi acknowledged that controversies had arisen in a number of states over the names eventually forwarded by party officials. He cited Benue as an example, recalling disputes over the leadership of the state chapter and the emergence of rival party structures.

According to him, such disagreements often become more complicated when competing political interests seek to sustain conflict rather than encourage reconciliation.

“Even where there is no genuine crisis, some people attempt to create one. There are conflict entrepreneurs who thrive on sustaining disputes within political parties,” he said.

He appealed to party stalwarts and aspirants to remain patient, loyal and committed to the reconciliation process, arguing that political careers are often built through perseverance, negotiation and long-term commitment rather than immediate electoral success.

While the APC continues to advocate internal reconciliation, legal practitioners note that the Electoral Act gives aspirants who participated in party primaries the right to challenge the outcome in court where they believe the process violated the law or the party’s constitution. Consequently, many of the pending suits are expected to hinge on whether the party complied with its own rules and the provisions of the Electoral Act in selecting candidates.

This legal reality means that reconciliation alone may not be enough to resolve every dispute. Where court actions have already commenced, the judiciary will ultimately determine whether the party acted within the law.

For the APC leadership, the task is no longer simply producing candidates for the 2027 elections; it is preserving party unity while balancing competing interests across the federation.

Strong political parties, analysts argue, are measured not only by their ability to produce candidates, but also by their capacity to resolve disputes fairly, accommodate divergent interests and retain the confidence of their members after fiercely contested primaries.

As parties gear up for campaign activities, the APC’s greatest challenge may not be confronting opposition parties but rebuilding trust within its own ranks. The submission of candidates’ names to INEC, which ordinarily signals the beginning of electioneering, has instead reopened a wider debate about internal democracy, transparency, fairness and party discipline.

How the ruling party manages the aftermath of the primaries could prove decisive. Whether the emerging divisions in the party are resolved through dialogue or allowed to fester in the courts may determine if it would go into the elections strong and united or weakened by its own internal contradictions.