PRESS STATEMENT:
GROSS NON-COMPLIANCE AND ILLEGALITIES IN THE PURPORTED APC ZAMFARA NORTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT PRIMARY ELECTION.
Introduction
This press statement serves to formally notify the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), all party faithful, and members of the general public regarding the travesty of democracy, severe legal non-compliance, and total breakdown of statutory procedure that characterized the purported APC Zamfara North Senatorial District Primary Election purportedly held on 2nd November, 2026.
In compliance with the short Notice of the court ordered primary election I participated in good faith as a frontline aspirant for the Zamfara North Senatorial seat across the four constituent Local Government Areas (LGAS):
Birnin-Magaji Local Government Area,Shinkafi Local Government Area,Kaura Namoda Local Government Area,Zurmi Local Government Area
Rather than a transparent, democratic, and credible exercise, what transpired across these four Local Government Areas was an orchestrated administrative ambush, characterized by complete subversion of party guidelines, blatant disregard of national electoral legislation, and the unlawful fabrication of phantom election results.
To State Key Grounds of Gross Non-Compliance and Irregularities
The purported primary election failed every basic legal and operational benchmark of a democratic exercise on the following fundamental grounds:
There was Non-Availability of Official Voting Materials & issuance of Photocopied Result Sheets
In blatant violation of standard electoral operations, original, serialized, and security-printed result sheets (Forms EC8A/EC8B equivalents) and official party registers were systematically withheld across the designated voting wards of Birnin-Magaji, Shinkafi, Kaura Namoda, and Zurmi. Instead, unauthorized and photocopied sheets were surfaced at unauthorized locations hours after party members had dispersed. These directly violates Section B(iii)k-L (which mandates that candidate scores be correctly entered on the APC official result sheet, and explicitly states: "Any result not recorded on the official result sheet shall be vold and shall not be accepted"). It also breaches Section C(vii) paragraph (a) governing the proper handling and collation of original copies of senatorial result forms.
There was Total Absence of Proper Accreditation.
No accreditation exercise took place. APC membership cards and biometric/voter identification were neither verified nor tallied against any official, NWC-certified party membership register. Tens of thousands of validly registered party members who converged across the four LGAs were denied their fundamental franchise, rendering any purported tally statistically fraudulent and non-existent.
This runs contrary to Section B(i) (Qualifications to Vote, requiring presentation of a valid membership slip cross-checked against the register and physical accreditation at the designated ward) and Section B(iii)f,g,h (mandating accreditation by APC membership registration slip and application of indelible ink) after verification.
There was Deliberate Short Notice, Communication Blackout, and Logistical Breakdown.
The election management team deliberately created acute logistical confusion by providing conflicting timelines, unannounced venue alterations, and an intentional information blackout. Stakeholders and aspirants' campaign organizations were intentionally kept in the dark regarding movement of officials, arrival schedules, and official collection points.
There was Weaponization and Hijacking by Armed Actors and Security Formations The designated aggregation and voting locations were besieged and actively hijacked by unauthorized
armed state and non-state actors, including irregular security details and heavily armed soldiers operating outside lawful electoral directives.
My Legitimate party members and accredited agents violently intimidated and driven away with gunshots to ensure absolute control over the venue by designated political interests. It goes contrary to Section B(iii)a, e-h (which set strict timelines for the commencement and closure of accreditation between 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM, and voting procedures).
This is also a direct violation of Section 96(5) & (6) of the Electoral act 2026, which prohibits maintaining, organizing, or equipping any group or individual (including armed private security or vanguards) for coercion or providing security during elections.
It also violates Section 97(1) of the Electoral act 2026, (prohibiting threats of force or violence) and Section 132 of the Electoral act 2026, which makes the use of force, violence, restraint, or fraudulent devices to impede the free use of votes a criminal offense punishable by fine or imprisonment.
Additionally, Section 27(3) of the Electoral act 2026 restricts the deployment of the Nigerian Armed Forces strictly to securing the distribution/delivery of materials and protecting officials, prohibiting partisan weaponization.
There was Usurpation by Unauthorized Local Government Collation Officers (LGCOs)
The purported primary election was unlawfully supervised, conducted, and declared by self-appointed Local Government Collation Officers (LGCOs) and ward returning officers who were never deployed, recognized, or certified by the APC National Working Committee (NWC).
The statutory APC Senatorial Primary Election Committee dispatched to Zamfara State abdicated its constitutional function to these unauthorized surrogates. This violates Section C(iii) of the APC Procedure for the Conduct of Direct and Consensus Mode of Primaries, the authority to appoint a Local Government Collation Officer (LGCO) is exclusively vested in the National Working Committee (NWC) to assist the Primary Election Committee. Any collation officer not so appointed is an imposter with no legal or administrative standing under party rules.
There was Covert and Unannounced purported Collation Outside Official Centers In direct violation of lawful guidelines requiring transparent collation at designated headquarters within
the senatorial district, results were clandestinely generated in secluded private locations and unannounced off-site premises. All accredited counting agents representing me Dr. Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi were deliberately excluded from monitoring, verifying, or signing the purported outcome. According to Section C(iii)(a-b), a legitimate LGCO's statutory duty is strictly limited to collating results received from each ward, completing the official Local Government Result Collation Form, and transmitting it upward to the appropriate constituency and state collation centres. Unappointed actors short-circuit this legal requirement, invalidating the integrity of the results.
There was Exclusion of Aspirants' Agents and Failure to Distribute the purported and unlawful Result Sheets.
APC Guideline Support: This directly violates Section C(vii)(d), which mandates that "The Chairman shall proceed to distribute copies of the result sheet to the agents of the candidates present."
Operating in secret without agents present completely subverts the participatory framework guaranteed under Section B(iii)b (which ensures aspirants are at liberty to have accredited agents) and Section B(ii)a (allowing candidates and their accredited agents access to the venue).
Under Section 84-88 of the Electoral Act 2026, where a political party fails to comply with the provisions of the Act and its own constitution in the conduct of its primaries, the candidate so produced shall not be included in the election for the position. The systemic non-compliance identified above renders the purported exercise incurably defective and legally unsustainable. It states as follows:
84. (1) A political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this Act shall hold primaries for aspirants to all elective positions which shall be monitored by the Commission.
(2) The procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for the various elective positions shall be by direct primaries or consensus.
85. A political party shall not impose nomination, qualification or disqualification criteria, measures, or conditions on any aspirant or candidate for any election in its constitution, guidelines, or rules for nomination of candidates for elections, except as prescribed under sections 65, 66, 106, 107, 131, 137, 177 and 187 of the Constitution.
86. All direct primaries shall be conducted in accordance with the guidelines of each political party.
87. (1) A political party that adopts a consensus candidate shall secure the written consent of all cleared aspirants for the position, indicating their voluntary withdrawal from the race and their endorsement of the consensus candidate
(2) Where a political party is unable to secure the written consent of all cleared aspirants for the purpose of a consensus candidate, it shall revert to the choice of direct primaries for the nomination of candidates for the elective positions.
(3) A special convention or nomination congress shall be held to ratify the choice of consensus candidates at designated centres at the National, State, Senatorial, Federal and State Constituencies.
88. (1) A political appointee at any level shall not be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention, congress, and primaries of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act or rules of a political party, an aspirant who complains that any of the provisions of this Act and the guidelines of a political party have not been complied with in the selection or nomination of a candidate of a political party for election, may apply to the Federal High Court for redress.
(3) Where a court finds that a political party failed to comply with the provisions of this Act in the conduct of its primaries, its candidate for that election shall not be included in the election for the particular position in issue.
(4) Nothing in this section shall empower the courts to stop the holding of primaries or general elections under this Act pending the determination of a suit.
In the end there was no voting exercise carried out and the whole purported event was an exercise in futility.
THEN IT CAME TO A DOUBLE CONFLICTING DECLARATIONS:
The exercise was marred by controversies, based on which 2 candidates were declared. The Chairman of the Committee who is a retired military man and a friend to one of the candidates declared Sen Sahabi while a member of the Committee declared Sen Tijjani Yahaya.
I will make it very clear to all there was never any consensus arrangement between Wambal and Sen. Tijjani or any aspirant. This is necessary so as to dispel the rumors being bandied about.
It is aknown fact that I am a gentle man who has tremendous respect for the rule of law and constitutionalism, and I am determined to pursue my rights through legitimate means rather than resorting to thuggery and attitudes that are unbecoming of the status of a senatorial aspirant.
Demands.
In light of the substantiated illegalities, widespread Irregularities, and flagrant breach of both statutory and party laws, I Dr. Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi hereby places the following demands before the National Chairman, the National Working Committee (NWC), and the National Election Appeals Committee of the All Progressives Congress:
1. Immediate Nullification of the Exercise: A formal declaration that the purported APC Zamfara North Senatorial District Primary Election held across Birnin-Magaji, Shinkafi, Kaura Namoda, and Zurmi Local Government Areas is irregular, invalid, null,void, and of no legal consequence whatsoever.
2. Setting Aside of Purported Nominees: An immediate directive setting aside, discarding, and refusing any submission or transmission of the name of the purported winner/declared candidate to INEC as the standard-bearer for the Zamfara North Senatorial District.
3. Ordering of a Fresh Primary Election: An order directing the conduct of a fresh, transparent direct primary election across the four constituent LGAs of the Zamfara North Senatorial District, strictly monitored by INEC and conducted by an untainted, duly authorized panel appointed by the NWC.
4. Sanction of Errant Actors: The immediate institution of disciplinary proceedings against the unauthorized individuals and collation officials who compromised the integrity of the party by fabricating unlawful returns.
The rule of law and democracy must prevail to protect the electoral fortunes of the All Progressives Congress in Zamfara North. And if the demands are not honored, I will approach a court to law to seek redress against Sen. Sahabi and Sen. Tijjani.
THANK YOU.
Signed:
Dr Sani Abdullahi (Wanban Shinkafi),2027 APC Zamfara north senatorial aspirant.
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