The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday submitted the list of presidential and senatorial candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in a bid to beat the October 18 deadline.
The Guardian learnt that the APC’s director of organisation, Alhaji Abubakar Kari, led other senior staff of the party in a branded vehicle to submit the list around 3:00 p.m.
Dozens of party bigwigs from across the country were seen at the secretariat speaking in hushed tones, uncertain if their names were on the list. The party was also said to have defied INEC’s order by going ahead to present a list of candidates from Zamfara State.
INEC had banned the APC from fielding candidates, after the expiration of the stipulated time.
But a deputy director of information in the commission, Aliyu Bello, said: “As far as we are concerned, the issue of Zamfara is foreclosed.
We are not collecting any list from them, as they failed to meet up with the required standard.”
He added that INEC could not be held liable for the failure of the party to comply with constitutional provisions.
All efforts by The Guardian to see the list proved abortive, as party officials ensured it remained a closely guarded secret.
Among those at the scene was Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta Central), who belongs to a faction of the party in Delta State.
The crisis rocking the APC in the state took a turn for the worse, as a Federal High Court in Asaba restrained the National Working Committee (NWC) from submitting any list from the state to INEC.