APC senatorial primaries: Reaction as ruling party faces multiple court cases

• The APC has been listed in several court cases following the outcome of its senatorial primaries across several states in Nigeria
• Political analyst Omotayo Yusuf, while speaking with Legit.ng, said the internal crisis is not surprising given the APC's dominance over three electoral cycles
• Yusuf, in his reactions to the development, warned that how the APC manages the fallout will matter more than the disputes themselves

Court cases have broken out across Nigeria following the conclusion of the All Progressives Congress senatorial primaries, with aggrieved aspirants turning to the judiciary to challenge results they consider flawed.

The legal battles have raised fresh concerns about the internal cohesion of the ruling party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Political analyst Omotayo Yusuf said the development, while troubling, was entirely predictable given the size and dominance of the APC in Nigerian politics.

Yusuf said:

"It is to be expected. I mean, the APC is no longer a mushroom party; it is the dominant party in Nigeria and has been for the past three electoral cycles, and so the more bloated the party is, the higher the likelihood of things like this happening. So it is not surprising at all."

Read also

Drama as man goes underneath Peter Obi's convoy vehicle, refuses to move until he sees him, video trends

He drew a comparison with the Peoples Democratic Party, noting that internal rifts are a common feature of powerful political machines. He added:

"The PDP, too, as a ruling party, faced an internal rift, but you would even say the APC so far has been able to manage internal rift and division better than even opposition parties. This is not unexpected. It is how it is managed that matters."

APC's history of internal crisis

Yusuf pointed to a past episode in Zamfara State as a cautionary example of what unresolved internal disputes can cost the party. He said:

"Remember that historically, the APC has lost an entire structure in Zamfara, I think, where the APC won because of internal crisis."

The Zamfara situation, in which the Supreme Court stripped the APC of its electoral victories due to an unresolved primary dispute, remains one of the starkest reminders of how intra-party conflict can undo electoral gains.

With court cases now multiplying across states following the senatorial primaries, the APC faces renewed pressure to resolve grievances through its internal dispute resolution mechanisms before the matters escalate further in the courts.

Read also

Breaking: Makinde speaks on dropping 2027 presidential bid for another candidate

The court cases escalated after the APC submitted the final list of its senatorial candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2027 general elections.

Senator Olubiyi dumps APC for PDP

Legit.ng earlier reported that Senator Olubiyi Fadeyi, who represents Osun Central Senatorial District, has resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), barely 12 months after he defected to the ruling party.

Fadeyi announced his resignation in a letter addressed to the Senate President, saying the decision took immediate effect. He cited what he described as a breach of prior agreements, a lack of internal democracy, and a total loss of confidence in the APC leadership in Osun State.

Source: Legit.ng