APC’s Exodus Season: Lawmakers trapped, bigwigs flee as primaries fallout shakes ruling party

By Omeiza Ajayi, ABUJA
It was supposed to be a week that cemented President Bola Tinubu’s political grip ahead of the 2027 elections. Instead, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has emerged from its nationwide primary elections battered, with a growing list of high-profile casualties — some already gone, others waiting at the door.

The fall out is both sweeping and still unfolding. Former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has left the APC and crossed to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, clinching the governorship ticket in Gombe State through a voice affirmation primary on Tuesday, May 26.

The move came after Pantami had pulled out of the APC governorship race, citing alleged violations of the Electoral Act 2026, failure to provide conditions for a credible process, and what he described as the imposition of a preferred candidate.

He now faces the APC’s Jamilu Gwamna — the man whose emergence in the ruling party’s governorship exercise he had rejected — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched governorship contests of the 2027 cycle.

Former IGPs, too

Pantami’s exit was not the only headline departure. Former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, officially resigned his APC membership on Monday, May 25, formally handing his letter to party executives at Makama Ward in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital, following his defeat in the party’s governorship primary.

In his resignation, Adamu said he could no longer continue political activities on the APC platform, adding that the conduct of the governorship primary had eroded his confidence in the party’s processes. He accused the party leadership of undermining internal democracy, transparency and fairness, saying the process had failed to reflect the will of party members at the grassroots.

His campaign structure subsequently announced he would pursue the 2027 governorship contest under the Social Democratic Party SDP.

Adamu’s colleague in Yobe, former IGP Usman Baba Alkali has also ditched the party.

In Benue State, former Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Hyacinth Dajoh, formally joined the PDP after dumping the APC, and was received into the opposition party in Makurdi by former Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom.

Dajoh had earlier withdrawn from the APC state assembly primary, citing alleged manipulation and lack of transparency, with reports that result sheets were completed before voting commenced in certain locations, and that election materials did not reach designated voting centres in others, despite winners being announced.

In Gombe, the ruling party also lost Senator Anthony Siyako Yaro, who announced his defection from the APC back to the PDP after extensive consultations with political associates, community leaders and supporters across Gombe South. He said the PDP remained the party that first believed in the collective aspirations of the people of the district. “This decision was not made lightly,” Yaro said in his statement.

Some waiting, watching, consulting …

These are some of the confirmed departures. But by far the larger political question hanging over the APC right now concerns those still inside the tent — aggrieved, watching and waiting.

Reports indicate other aggrieved members are still weighing their options, with party sources saying several politicians are currently consulting supporters and allies before deciding whether to remain in the APC or seek alternative platforms for 2027.

The raw numbers tell much of the story. Nearly 60 National Assembly members lost their return tickets in the APC’s primary exercise. Among the Senate casualties were former Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege in Delta Central, who polled 3,643 votes against Senator Ede Dafinone’s 116,252; former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who swept Delta North with 113,309 votes, burying incumbent Senator Ned Nwoko; and Governor Hope Uzodimma, who ended Rochas Okorocha’s return bid in Imo West with 230,464 votes against Okorocha’s 1,098. Former Ogun State governors Gbenga Daniel and Ibikunle Amosun opted out of the exercise entirely rather than contest under conditions they clearly found unacceptable.

The Electoral Act they signed

The electoral mathematics has produced its own tragicomedy of ironies. Many of the lawmakers now crying foul helped pass the very Electoral Act 2026 that has closed the exit door behind them. They enacted an anti-defection clause barring politicians from switching parties after membership registers had been submitted to INEC for the same election cycle, confident the provision would mainly trap opposition figures. The clause has instead become their prison.

The amendment to Section 83 of the Electoral Act barred politicians from switching parties after membership registers had been submitted to INEC for the same election cycle. Lawmakers passed the amendment in a single plenary session on March 11. Those same lawmakers now find themselves legally marooned in a party whose primary results many of them insist do not reflect actual votes.

A member of the House of Representatives from Ekiti State, Kolawole Akinlayo, delivered the most unsparing summary of the exercise, saying: “There was no election, but results were written in Government House.”

He added that stakeholders were awaiting the outcome of internal review processes.

APC reacts

The APC’s position is that none of the results are yet final. The Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy to National Chairman Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, Abimbola Tooki, clarified that formal declaration of winners will only come after the conclusion of the appeal processes.

“The guidelines issued for the conduct of the primaries were very clear and unambiguous. Results from the various levels were to be collated appropriately, while the formal declaration of winners would only come after the appeal processes have been concluded,” Tooki said.

He added that every aggrieved aspirant retained the constitutional right to seek redress before the relevant appeal committees, warning that some individuals were attempting to use media propaganda to discredit the process and create tension before the appeal exercise was concluded.

Some aggrieved members have taken that appeal route. Others, like the member representing Kwande/Ushongo Federal Constituency, Terseer Ugbor, have submitted petitions while ruling out defection. “I have submitted my petition against the declaration of fake results. Whatever the party decides, I’ll accept it and work for the victory of the party at all levels,” he said.

The Kwara State APC chairman, Sunday Fagbemi, sought to put a sporting frame around the departures, dismissing threats to leave the party as empty gestures and urging members to pursue the party’s conflict resolution mechanisms. “When there are primaries, you either win or lose. When you are not taking politics as a sportsman, there is a problem,” he said.

But the stream of confirmed exits and the larger queue of those yet to decide suggest the party is managing a haemorrhage, not a bruise.

With the APC’s National Working Committee still to conclude its appeals process and declare final winners, the full reckoning — how many more prominent names walk out, and where they land — remains a question APC cannot yet answer.

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