The All Progressives Congress has released the list of House of Representatives aspirants disqualified from participating in the party’s primaries, with five serving lawmakers among 14 aspirants barred from the contest just hours before the exercise.
The party disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka.
According to the APC, the affected aspirants participated in the screening exercise conducted by the party’s screening committees but were subsequently “not cleared” in line with the party’s guidelines and procedures.
“The All Progressives Congress (APC) hereby releases the list of House of Representatives aspirants who participated in the screening exercise but were not cleared to participate in the House of Representatives Primary Election,” the statement read.
Among the high-profile aspirants disqualified are serving members of the House of Representatives, including Anderson Allison Igbiki representing Okrika/Ogu/Bolo Federal Constituency in Rivers State, Boma Goodhead representing Asari-Toru/Akuku-Toru Federal Constituency, and Awaji Imombek D. Abirite representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency.
Others on the list include retired Air Commodore John Azubuike Opara, who sought to contest for Port Harcourt Federal Constituency, as well as Idu Igariwe from Afikpo-Edda Federal Constituency in Ebonyi State.
The APC also disqualified several aspirants from Ondo State, including Adefisoye Tajudeen for Idanre/Ifedore Federal Constituency, Olusegun Victor Ategbole and Seun Oluwashina Ajongbolo for Akoko South-East/South-West Federal Constituency.
Others from Ondo affected by the decision are Arowole Ayodeji Samuel for Owo/Ose Federal Constituency, Morufu Tosin Ibrahim, Oseni Oyeniyi, and Olaleye John Adedipe, all from Akoko North-East/North-West Federal Constituency.
Also disqualified were Bashir Ibrahim Bello from Darazo/Ganjuwa Federal Constituency in Bauchi State and Sanni Salau Ogembe from Okene/Ogori/Magongo Federal Constituency in Kogi State.
The development comes amid heightened political tension and intense lobbying ahead of the APC House of Representatives primaries scheduled to hold nationwide.
The ruling party, however, maintained that the screening process was conducted in accordance with established procedures and internal guidelines governing the nomination exercise.
