The  All Progressive Congress(APC) has clarified why some aspirants initially declared winners in its National Assembly primaries were later dropped from the final candidates’ list.

The party said the changes followed a comprehensive review of over 700 petitions submitted by aggrieved members after the primaries.

APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka disclosed this in a telephone interview, explaining that the petitions were examined by the party’s appeal committee before final decisions were reached by the National Working Committee (NWC).

“For those aggrieved, we took our time to undertake a very thorough review of all the petitions that came after the primaries. There were over 700 petitions that were received and properly vetted,” Morka said.

He noted that while some petitions were upheld, leading to adjustments in certain constituencies, others were dismissed, allowing previously declared winners to retain their candidacy.

“Some were successful and some were not. Those successful led to corrections in some constituencies, while those that were not successful meant those earlier declared were retained,” he added.

Morka acknowledged that in a few instances, the outcomes of the petitions led to unexpected reversals.

“In a few cases, there were upsets based on the outcome of the petitions and decisions were made on them,” he said.

The APC spokesperson confirmed that the petition window had officially closed and that the current list represents the party’s final position after the review process.

“We have gone past that. The people filling the forms today are those who emerged originally without challenge and those who emerged through the appeal process. This is the final position of the review,” he stated.

According to him, the party’s immediate focus is ensuring that all candidates complete and submit their nomination forms, specifically the INEC Form EC9, on time.

“The priority of the party now is to have all our candidates fill and complete their INEC nomination form and upload same on INEC platform,” Morka said.

He added that successful candidates have already received the necessary documentation and are working with party leadership to ensure compliance with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) requirements.

Morka also explained that public release of the full candidates’ list is not the party’s immediate concern.

“Having a public release of the list is not our priority now. Though we shall share the list publicly, our focus is ensuring candidates meet INEC deadlines,” he said.

He maintained that there is no uncertainty within the party regarding its candidates.

“Those who are our candidates, by now, have received their forms. They already know themselves. There is no tension about that,” he added.