The All Progressives Congress (APC) Sunday mocked opposition political parties for failing to meet the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) deadline for the submission of candidates for the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections.
The ruling party said the development exposed what it described as the opposition’s lack of preparedness and organisational capacity ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In a statement issued in Abuja by its national publicity secretary, Felix Morka, the APC said it successfully uploaded the names and particulars of all its presidential, vice-presidential, Senate and House of Representatives candidates before the July 11 deadline set by INEC.
The party noted that the electoral commission later extended the deadline to midnight on July 14 following an appeal by the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) on behalf of political parties that were unable to complete the nomination process within the stipulated period.
“The All Progressives Congress (APC) is pleased to announce that it successfully met the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) deadline for the submission of names of its candidates for the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections. Our great Party satisfied this requirement despite the large number of party candidates contesting on the party’s platform for the various elective offices.
“At the request of opposition political parties that had failed to meet the July 11 deadline, INEC granted an extension of the deadline to July 14, 2026.
“While INEC acted within its statutory powers and administrative discretion in extending the deadline for opposition parties to upload names of their candidates, it is noteworthy that the extension was necessitated by the stark failure of opposition parties to manage their internal processes to comply with INEC’s submission deadline despite having fewer candidates to manage compared to the APC.
“This development provides yet another clear indication of the opposition’s chronic inherent weakness and raises legitimate questions about their operational capacity. Political parties that cannot efficiently conclude their own internal nomination processes cannot possibly be trusted by Nigerians to possess the competence, discipline, or readiness to govern our great nation or it sub national governments,” the party said.