APC NWC has exclusive power to certify candidates, Ijabiyi insists

THE Chairman of the PBAT Mandate Elders Forum in Ondo State, Chief Demola Ijabiyi, on Sunday, said the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) remains the only organ empowered to ratify and certify candidates emerging from the party’s primary elections.

Speaking against the backdrop of the controversy trailing the outcome of the APC primaries in Ondo State, Ijabiyi maintained that declarations made at primary election venues were merely provisional and subject to review, validation and ratification by the NWC in line with the party’s constitution and guidelines.

He explained that officials deployed to conduct the primaries act as agents of the party’s national leadership and are required to submit their reports to the NWC for final consideration before any aspirant can be regarded as the party’s official candidate.

According to him, the party’s internal appeal mechanism would become redundant if results announced at the field level were treated as final.

He said: “If the declaration made at the venue is considered final and conclusive, then the purpose of the party’s appeal committee and the requirement for election committees to submit their returns to the National Working Committee would become meaningless.”

Ijabiyi stressed that political parties must retain the authority to review their primary elections and correct any irregularities, manipulation or breaches of established guidelines to safeguard the integrity of their nomination process.

He argued that stripping parties of such supervisory powers would undermine their constitutional right to regulate their internal affairs and determine who eventually flies their flag in elections.

The APC chieftain urged aggrieved aspirants to exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms rather than rely solely on declarations made at the primary venues, insisting that every contestant remains an aspirant until the NWC concludes the nomination process and publishes the final list of candidates.

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He also contended that aspirants challenging the decisions of the NWC in court could not validly present themselves as duly nominated candidates while the party’s nomination process remained in dispute.

Clarifying the role of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Ijabiyi said the electoral body merely monitors party primaries and has no constitutional mandate to certify or endorse candidates.

According to him, the Constitution and the Electoral Act confer the exclusive responsibility for nominating and sponsoring candidates on political parties through their duly constituted organs.