2027 Election: APC Beats INEC Deadline, Details Emerge
- APC national chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, has announced that the party finished uploading candidates before INEC's original August 8 deadline
- The submission covered thousands of candidates across all 36 states and the FCT, from State Houses of Assembly to the presidency
- INEC extended the original deadline by three days to August 11 after appeals from parties that had not completed their submissions
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FCT, Abuja - The All Progressives Congress has finished uploading its candidates for all elective positions ahead of the 2027 general elections, completing the exercise before the Independent National Electoral Commission's original deadline of Saturday, August 8, 2026.
APC National Chairman Prof Nentawe Yilwatda said the party submitted candidates for positions ranging from State House of Assembly seats to the presidency across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Source: Twitter
As reported by The Punch, Yilwatda made the announcement on Sunday, August 9, 2026, in a statement issued through his Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki,
INEC later extended its submission deadline by three days to Tuesday, August 11, following requests from political parties that had yet to conclude their own uploads.
APC chairman's position on party readiness
Yilwatda said the early completion reflected the party's ability to coordinate its national secretariat, state chapters, candidates and election management teams at scale.
He described it as one of the more demanding internal exercises the party had undertaken, given the number of candidates requiring nomination, documentation, verification and electronic submission.
"The APC has once again demonstrated that we are prepared for the responsibility of governing Nigeria. We did not wait until the last minute. We planned ahead, coordinated our structures and ensured that our candidates were successfully uploaded before the expiration of the original deadline. This is what organisation, discipline and responsible political leadership mean."
According to Vanguard, Yilwatda went further to draw a connection between a party's internal administrative record and its fitness to govern.
He argued that voters should weigh organisational capacity alongside campaign promises when making decisions ahead of 2027.
"If a political organisation cannot effectively organise its own internal processes, coordinate its candidates and meet simple statutory and administrative deadlines, Nigerians must ask serious questions about its preparedness to manage the affairs of the nation."
Source: Twitter
What comes next for APC?
With the submission phase wrapped up, Yilwatda said the party's attention would shift to campaign coordination, grassroots mobilisation, policy communication and reconciliation efforts within its own structures.
He commended members of the National Working Committee, state party leadership and other officials involved in the process, calling the outcome a collective effort.
"The work has only begun. Completing the upload ahead of schedule gives us confidence, but it also places a greater responsibility on us. We must remain united, disciplined and focused,"
The 2027 elections are expected to be keenly contested, with opposition parties aiming to make gains at the federal and state levels.
Candidate submission to INEC is one of the early statutory steps in the electoral calendar, and parties must complete the process after their internal nomination exercises.
APC senators who did not make INEC list
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that INEC released the final list of candidates for the 2027 general elections on August 1, 2026, leaving several high-profile politicians off the register.
Ned Nwoko, Garba Maidoki, and other APC figures were absent from the list despite Senate President Akpabio's earlier assurances to affected lawmakers.
The omissions came roughly two months after Akpabio pledged that the APC leadership was working to resolve grievances from the party primaries.
Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
