2027: Opposition parties not ready for polls – APC scribe

2026-03-07 - 16:18

By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr. Ajibola Basiru has described complaints of the opposition parties about party membership registration as an attestation of lack of seriousness to contest the 2027 general elections. It would be recalled that some opposition parties have described the 21 days period given to political parties for submission of its members register as anti-democratic and attempt to stifle democratic space. Speaking at the flagg off of the distribution of identity cards to members of Alubarika Movement held at its headquarters in Osogbo, Basiru described opposition parties criticism as the sign of unseriouness in the running of political party affairs. According to him, political party that is serious about contesting election does not need the guidance of an electoral umpire to do the right thing toward seeking political powers. “The rule about registration is very clear. The existing law, even before the Electoral Act amended, is that every data must be linked with the NIN, So when the APC started its digital registration, we insisted that it must be linked with the NIN. And at the time that we closed the registration, we had registered about 12 million Nigerians, and it is all linked with the NIN. “We find it very strange that any political party would be complaining that they don’t have a register of members, or that the time for registration of members is too short, because under the old law, there’s actually a requirement for the register of members to be submitted 30 days ahead. So, what even the Electoral Act now has done is to reduce the time from 30 days to 21 days. “So it’s actually very strange. It appears that the opposition party are not ready to contest the election and if they are not so ready, rather than banalizing and creating unnecessary names for established institutions, they could, I mean, opt to boycott the election if they are not ready”. Speaking on party primary ahead of the general elections, the former Senator counselled that the APC across the states should allow level playing ground for all contestants with a view to picking the most popular candidates who can win elections for the party. “Yes, it’s time to reason. Our party is now large, so my advice, and which of course I’m also advising the party as National Secretary, is that we should create a level playing ground so that there can be free fair contest at the primary. We must give the most popular candidates opportunities to win poll for the party”, he added.