The House of Representatives direct primaries of the All Progressives Congress in Adamawa State were delayed in several wards on Saturday following the absence of officials expected to conduct the exercise.
When our correspondent visited wards in Girei, Yola North and Yola South local government areas around 10:45 am, party members were seen waiting without any official information on the commencement of the exercise.
Some members expressed fears that the primaries might not hold as scheduled.
A party member in Girei Local Government Area, James Koh, alleged that officials assigned to conduct the exercise had yet to arrive in the state.
“We learnt that those to conduct the primaries are still in Abuja,” he said.
The APC Secretary in Girei Ward 1, Alhaji Salihu Dalatu, also confirmed that the election committee members had yet to arrive.
“You can see voters hanging under tree shields waiting for the commencement of the exercise, we are hopeful it will take place as scheduled, ” he said.
When contacted, the state Publicity Secretary of the party, Victor Dogo, said members of the election committee had already been deployed to the 226 wards across the 21 local government areas of the state.
“It is a deliberate action not to start early, so that people are not left out of the exercise, so tell them to be patient, the primaries will certainly take place as stipulated by the timetable of the election”, he said.
The development comes amid growing concerns among aspirants over alleged plans to impose candidates through consensus arrangements.
On Friday, a forum of APC House of Representatives aspirants in the state accused some party leaders of attempting to impose candidates ahead of the primaries.
The spokesman for the forum, Mr Vrati Nzonzo, urged party leaders to ensure free, fair and credible primaries across the state.
“Since consensus has failed across the eight federal constituencies of Adamawa State, the Forum calls on the party to conduct free, fair, and credible primaries across all 226 wards of the state to enable the Party present popular and credible candidates for the 2027 elections that would make the party victorious,” he stated.
He alleged that some aspirants had been pressured by party officials to step down for preferred candidates.
The forum also called on party leaders to conduct the exercise in line with the Electoral Act and the party’s constitution to avoid internal crisis ahead of the 2027 elections.
