The All Progressives Congress (APC) has formed committees to oversee primary elections for filling vacancies in both national and state assemblies. These committees are set to manage the primaries in nine states ahead of the 3 February bye-elections.
The primary elections will take place in Lagos, Ondo, Kebbi, Taraba, Yobe, Benue, Kaduna, Ebonyi, and Borno states.
Most vacancies arose due to the appointment of National Assembly members to executive positions by President Bola Tinubu. Five serving members were appointed to his cabinet, including the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Gaidam, Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, and Minister of State for Education, Tanko Sununu.
Umahi and Gaidam represented Ebonyi South and Yobe East in the Senate, respectively, while Gbajabiamila served as the legislator for Surulere I Federal Constituency of Lagos State. Sununu and Tunji-Ojo were members of the House representing Yauri/Shanga/Ngaski Federal Constituency of Kebbi State and Akoko North-east/Akoko North-west Federal Constituency of Ondo State, respectively.
There is also a vacancy in Taraba State’s Jalingo/Yorro/Zing Federal Constituency following the death of Isma’ila Maihanchi.
Vacancies exist in the state assemblies of Kaduna, Benue, and Borno states.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released a timetable for these bye-elections and re-runs last month, with party primaries and dispute resolutions scheduled from 5 to 9 January.
Committees for Ebonyi State
The seven-member screening committee for Ebonyi State is chaired by Smart Iheasor with Ifeanyi Egwim as secretary of the committee.
Other members are Edele Oketa, Thomas Shagbaor, Attah Moh, Opeyemi Akinsiju and Ramatu Abubakar.
The five-member appeal committee is chaired by Aliyu Kunde and Jennifer Adike as Secretary while the primary election committee for the district is chaired by Akin Akinsehinwa and Prince Eze as secretary.
Yobe State
To manage the primary election in Yobe East, the party set up four committees – screening committee, screening appeal committee, primary election committee and primary election appeal committee.
The screening committee is chaired by Joshua Lidani, a former senator, and Maikudi Giade as secretary. Also, the screening appeal committee is chaired by Baba Ajimi and Ibrahim Dika as secretary.
On the other hand, the primary election committee is chaired by Ibrahim Masari and Ibrahim Jalo as secretary.
Surulere
The primary election to fill the vacancy in Surulere I Federal Constituency is to be conducted by a five-member committee chaired by Buba Yusuf while Dapo Lam-Adeshina will serve as secretary. Messrs Yusuf and Lam-Adesina are both former members of the House of Representatives.
The seven-member screening committee is chaired by Hakeem Okunade as secretary.
Gbajabiamila served in the House for 20 years until his resignation in June 2023 to take up the role of chief of staff.
Aside from the bye-elections, the commission is also conducting re–run elections in 35 constituencies, resulting from the verdicts of the various election petition tribunals.
See the full list below
