By Hussein Yahaya (Abuja), Promise Adagba (Akure), Mumini Abdulkareem (Ilorin) & Hope Abah, Makurdi The All Progressives Congress (APC) has commenced upload of its governorship and House of Assembly candidates onto the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Candidate Nomination Portal (ICNP). Daily Trust reports that the electoral body opened the portal for uploading candidates’ details last Saturday, with the exercise expected to be completed by August 8. The party will be uploading the data of 28 governorship candidates and 993 State House of Assembly candidates across the federation within this period. A reliable source within the ruling party told one of our correspondents on Monday afternoon that the upload process was initiated on Saturday evening by the party’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) department. This comes even as protests over the alleged substitution of some candidates continue in states, with aggrieved aspirants threatening a showdown. The source at the party’s secretariat confirmed notable complaints regarding the primary elections conducted in Kwara, Benue, and Ondo states. In view of these complaints, he stated that the party leadership established a vetting committee with a mandate to collect and verify all nomination forms from State Chairmen before handing them over to the ICT unit. Party clears sitting governors, 9 others for upload Daily Trust learnt that all the governors seeking a second-term mandate have been cleared for upload onto the INEC portal. They include Governors Dikko Radda (Katsina), Nasir Idris (Kebbi), Umaru Bago (Niger), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), Ahmad Aliyu (Sokoto), Agbu Kefas (Taraba), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Hyacinth Alia (Benue), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), Uba Sani (Kaduna), and Abba Yusuf (Kano). Nine first-time governorship flagbearers were also cleared. The source gave their names as Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi), Ahmed Aliyu Wadada (Nasarawa), Obafemi Hamzat (Lagos), Ogundu Kingsley Chinda (Rivers), Eric Opah (Abia), Solomon Adeola (Ogun), Mustapha Gubio (Borno), Jamilu Gwamna (Gombe), and Baba Malam Wali (Yobe). The source told Daily Trust that the party is still finalizing the list of House of Assembly candidates in accordance with the reports of its Primary Elections Appeal Committee. He confirmed that some names will be replaced during the exercise before the final list is uploaded. Protests in Ondo, Kwara Daily Trust reports that protests have broken out in some states over the alleged substitution of candidates by the party, with demonstrations being most pronounced in Ondo and Kwara states. Reports from Ondo State indicate that the party appears headed for another round of internal turmoil as the INEC portal opens. The APC national leadership has allegedly replaced five of the 26 House of Assembly candidates who initially emerged from the primaries in Ondo State. One of the most contentious cases involves Akoko South-West Constituency I, where stakeholders allege that the name of Hon. Olugbenga Omole, who won the primary election, is being substituted with that of another aspirant, Raymond Daodu. The development prompted party leaders and stakeholders in the constituency to stage a protest, warning against what they described as an attempt to subvert the will of party members. The protesters insisted that any effort to replace the rightful winner could generate widespread dissatisfaction within the APC and weaken the party’s chances at the polls. Speaking during the protest, the Returning Officer for the Akoko South-West Constituency I primary, Hon. Christopher Omolorun, said intelligence reports suggesting a move to substitute Omole’s name necessitated their public outcry. According to Omolorun, Omole secured 4,648 votes during the primary election, while Daodu polled only 921 votes. “We want Mr. President and the party leadership in Abuja to know that we reject any attempt to impose a candidate on us. Oka people will not accept imposition because the mandate was freely given to Omole,” Omolorun said. The APC Chairman in Akoko South-West Local Government, Sunday Agbede, also confirmed that stakeholders directed him to submit a petition to the state leadership. “I have been asked to take their letter to the state chairman because we want peace and we want the issue resolved within the party,” Agbede stated. Offering a different perspective, political analyst and leader of the Ondo Elders Forum, Chief Demola Ijabiyi, argued that no aspirant can validly claim to be a party candidate until the APC National Working Committee (NWC) concludes the nomination process and certifies the outcome. According to him, declarations made by returning officers at primary venues are merely provisional and remain subject to review and ratification by national leadership. “If the declaration made at the venue is considered final and conclusive, then the purpose of the party’s appeal committee and t
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