NWC has final say on primary results, Ijabiyi says

By Boye Oyeyemi

The Chairman of the PBAT Mandate Elders Forum in Ondo State, Chief Demola Ijabiyi, has said that aspirants who emerge victorious at party primary elections cannot be regarded as duly nominated candidates until the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress concludes the nomination process and certifies the outcome.

Ijabiyi explained that results announced by primary election committees are provisional, noting that they remain subject to review, validation and ratification by the party’s National Working Committee in line with the APC constitution and electoral guidelines.

He argued that election committees conducting primaries merely act on behalf of the NWC, stressing that they are mandated to submit their reports to the party leadership for final consideration before any candidate can be officially recognised.

“If declarations made at primary venues are treated as final, then the party’s appeal mechanism and the requirement for election committees to submit their returns to the National Working Committee would serve no useful purpose,” he said.

The APC chieftain maintained that political parties must retain the authority to address irregularities, manipulation or breaches of their guidelines, warning that stripping the NWC of its supervisory role would weaken the credibility of internal party democracy.

He also urged aggrieved aspirants to explore the party’s internal appeal process instead of making premature claims to candidacy, insisting that every contestant remains an aspirant until the NWC completes its review and publishes the final list of candidates.

“The National Working Committee has the constitutional responsibility to receive election returns, consider appeals where necessary and certify those validly nominated. Until that process is completed, no aspirant can legitimately claim to be the party’s candidate,” Ijabiyi said.

Speaking on the role of INEC, he clarified that the Independent National Electoral Commission only monitors party primaries and has no constitutional power to certify candidates, adding that the authority to nominate and sponsor candidates rests exclusively with political parties through their duly constituted organs.