APC NEC to ratify May 30/31 presidential primaries today

• SDP, PRP, six others yet to submit dates to INEC

Barring any last-minute changes, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will meet today in Abuja, to among other things ratify the dates for the presidential primaries ahead of the 2023 general elections.

This will be the first NEC meeting since the emergence of the Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party on March 26, 2022.

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Credible sources at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, hinted to our correspondent, yesterday, that the meeting would ratify the May 30 and 31 date for the presidential primaries as well as the governorship primaries slated for May 23, 2022.

A calendar of political party primaries for 2023 presidential primaries designed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and sighted by our correspondent, yesterday, indicates that APC would hold its presidential primaries on May 30 and 31, 2022, while the governorship primaries would be held on May 23.

It also indicates that the leading opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would hold its presidential primaries on May 29, and its governorship on May 21, 2022.

The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Labour Party (LP) have slated May 25-26 and June 3 for the presidential primaries and May 20 and June 1, 2022 for the governorship.

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has fixed June 1 for its presidential primaries and May 29 for governorship primaries.

However, our correspondent reports that of the 18 registered political parties in the country currently recognised by INEC, eight are yet to get into the INEC calendar for the 2023 primaries.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP), the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) and others are yet to do so as their spaces remained blank on the INEC Calendar sighted by Daily Trust yesterday. Others are the AA, ADC, ADP, APP, NRM and YPP.

Sources say the “small” parties which are yet to communicate to INEC their dates for the primaries, were scheming to become fall-back options for bigwigs who would be aggrieved over the outcome of the primaries in their parties, especially APC and PDP.

Sources at the APC national secretariat however hinted that apart from ratifying the dates for the primaries today, the NEC would also discuss the general state of the party and welcome the new NWC into the party’s national secretariat among others.