The All Progressives Congress (APC) has completed the upload of its candidates for all available elective positions ahead of the 2027 general election.

Nentawe Yilwatda, the party’s national chairman, disclosed the development at the weekend after the party successfully uploaded its candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal ahead of the original deadline.

He said the timely completion of the exercise demonstrated the APC’s organisational strength, institutional discipline and preparedness for the 2027 elections.

The APC national chairman said the party had completed the process within the original timeframe, while several other political parties were still struggling to meet the deadline and had appealed to INEC for an extension.

Following the appeals, INEC extended the deadline from Saturday, August 8, to Tuesday, August 11, 2026, giving parties an additional three days to complete their submissions through the commission’s online portal.

In a statement issued by Abimbola Tooki, his special adviser on media and information strategy, Yilwatda said the development showed that the APC had moved beyond “the politics of slogans” to politics driven by structure, planning, systems and execution.

According to him, coordinating the nomination, documentation, verification and electronic submission of thousands of candidates across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory was a test of a party’s organisational capacity.

“The APC has once again demonstrated that we are prepared for the responsibility of governing Nigeria,” Yilwatda said.

“We did not wait until the last minute. We planned ahead, coordinated our structures and ensured that our candidates were successfully uploaded before the expiration of the original deadline. This is what organisation, discipline and responsible political leadership mean.”

He said the successful completion of the exercise was particularly significant because the 2027 elections would be among the most consequential electoral contests in the country’s history.

‘GOVERNANCE REQUIRES PLANNING, DISCIPLINE’

Yilwatda said political parties needed to demonstrate not only popularity but also internal coordination, capacity and preparedness.

He added that managing the process across the country required coordination between the APC national secretariat, state chapters, candidates and other party structures.

The national chairman said the exercise should also remind Nigerians of the importance of organisational capacity when assessing political parties and candidates.

“Governance is not an experiment. The management of a country as complex as Nigeria requires planning, coordination, discipline, competence and the ability to deliver within deadlines,” he said.

“If a political organisation cannot effectively organise its own internal processes, coordinate its candidates and meet simple statutory and administrative deadlines, Nigerians must ask serious questions about its preparedness to manage the affairs of the nation.”

Yilwatda cautioned Nigerians against political parties that make ambitious promises about governing the country but cannot demonstrate basic organisational competence within their own structures.

He said parties seeking Nigerians’ mandate should be judged not only by their campaign rhetoric but also by their internal systems, preparedness, capacity to manage people and resources, and compliance with electoral regulations.

The APC chairman said completing the upload ahead of schedule would allow the party to focus on other aspects of its 2027 preparations, including campaign coordination, candidate engagement, voter mobilisation, grassroots organisation, policy communication and reconciliation.

He commended the APC national working committee, state party leadership, candidates, election management teams and other officials who contributed to the completion of the exercise.

“The work has only begun. Completing the upload ahead of schedule gives us confidence, but it also places a greater responsibility on us,” he said.

“We must remain united, disciplined and focused. We must take our message of Renewed Hope to every community and demonstrate to Nigerians that the APC is not only prepared to contest elections; we are prepared to continue providing responsible leadership for Nigeria.”

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