2027: APC targets 9m registered members, opposition alleges rigging plot

The All Progressives Congress says it has recorded a significant boost in its nationwide membership drive following the launch of its electronic registration platform, with over two million registering within one week.

The party’s National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, disclosed this while addressing journalists in Abuja on Monday, saying the APC is projecting between eight and nine million registered members in the coming days.

But the opposition party expressed concern, alleging that the e-registration was part of a grand 2027 rigging plot.

The National Executive Committee of the APC, alongside other party organs, had last year approved the adoption of electronic registration to accurately ascertain the party’s actual membership strength nationwide.

Basiru explained that the online nature of the exercise enables real-time monitoring, transparency and credibility.

“The NEC is the second most powerful organ of the party. And it gave a directive that before the end of January, we want all our members to be digitally identified. The significance of the registration is underscored by the fact that data is very important to the operational efficiency of any organisation, no less than that of a political party that thrives on mobilisation, organisation, and consultation of leaders. The National Chairman also charged the state coordinators to ensure that the exercise is in full throttle before the end of the week.

“And of course, any states that are found lacking, we at the National Working Committee have been given the latitude to change the status of state coordinators if they are not ongoing. And of course, we also have the mandate to take a look at the state-by-state affairs of the membership registration.

“We are happy to inform the Nigerian people that as of today, just a week into the exercise, with many states yet to even start in full throttle, Nigerians who are registered as members of APC are already in excess of two million members who are digitally verified and have their names and voter identification numbers.

“We emphasise that in a couple of days, particularly when we make another assessment by next week, we should be in the region of about eight or nine million in membership, by the grace of God.”

Basiru called on all party stakeholders across the states to take the exercise seriously, describing it as fundamental to building a strong and organic party capable of mobilising Nigerians in support of the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“We also commend the involvement of all our party stakeholders at the state level. They have committed time, energy, and resources in mobilizing for the success of the exercise,” he added.

Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the APC, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has directed all coordinators of the ongoing nationwide electronic registration exercise across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to ensure that every party member is registered, warning that failure would attract sanctions.

According to a statement on Monday by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications Strategy, Abimbola Tooki, Yilwatda issued the directive during a meeting with state registration coordinators at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja.

The statement noted that all State Organising Secretaries serve as coordinators for the exercise, except where any was not trained.

The registration exercise is scheduled to end on January 30, 2026.

According to the APC chairman, the coordinator’s position is not ceremonial but a responsibility to strengthen the party.

“If any coordinator does not get all members registered in his or her state, we will drop you and appoint another person. The position you occupy is an opportunity to make the party better,” he said.

Yilwatda reminded the coordinators that elections are won at the grassroots.

“Nobody contests elections at the national secretariat. Elections are won or lost at the state, senatorial, constituency, local government, and ward levels. The performance of the party rests squarely on you,” he stated.

He warned against inflated membership figures that do not reflect electoral outcomes.

The chairman also cautioned against blocking any member from participating in the registration process.

“No chairman, no coordinator, and not even a governor has the power to stop any party member from being registered. No one must be disenfranchised,” he warned.

Providing an update, Yilwatda said Delta State is currently leading the registration exercise, followed by Lagos, Kebbi, Adamawa and Plateau states.

In Benue State, Governor Hyacinth Alia on Monday registered as the first APC member in the state, receiving membership number 001 while flagging off the e-registration exercise at RCM Primary School, Ihugh, in Vandeikya Local Government Area.

Speaking after the exercise, Alia urged party chairmen and ward leaders to mobilise members, noting that registration agents have been deployed across all council wards.

He cautioned members against actions capable of distorting the exercise and advised peaceful coordination at the ward level.

The governor described his registration as a demonstration of acceptance ahead of his re-election bid and commended the APC leadership for introducing the initiative.

In Adamawa State, the APC Unity Forum warned against plans by some party chieftains to impose candidates.

Speaking at a press conference in Yola on Sunday, the Director General of the forum, Alhaji Abubakar Hamma, said only free, fair and credible primaries would guarantee electoral victory.

“We will ensure that all party members have an equal opportunity to participate in the process, and that the outcome reflects the will of the party faithful.”

“We understand the importance of maintaining the trust and confidence of our members, and we are working tirelessly to ensure that the primary election is conducted in a transparent and accountable manner.”

He added, “Let me assure you that there will be no imposition of candidate, and that the election will be free from any form of manipulation or interference. We will uphold the principles of internal democracy and ensure that the best candidate emerges to fly our Party’s flag in the forthcoming elections.”

Hamma urged members to report any irregularities.

“Together, we build a stronger, more united Party that will deliver for our great nation.”

Opposition kicks

The opposition Labour Party and the New Nigeria People’s Party raised the alarm over what they described as early moves by the ruling APC to rig the 2027 general election, following the party’s claim that its ongoing electronic membership registration would produce up to nine million new members within weeks.

The opposition parties gave the warning in separate interviews with The PUNCH.

They spoke amid growing political debate over the APC’s digital registration exercise, which the party’s leadership says has already attracted over two million registrants in its first week and could hit between eight and nine million within two weeks.

Reacting, the acting National Chairman of the Labour Party, Senator Nenadi Usman, warned that the figures being announced by the ruling party should be closely scrutinised, arguing that electoral manipulation often begins long before election day.

Usman conveyed the party’s position in an exclusive interview through her Senior Special Adviser on Media, Ken Asogwa.

“Nigerians need to properly scrutinise the figures this APC government is dishing out. The truth is that polls are not rigged on election day. They are rigged months and years before the main election,” Asogwa said.

He faulted claims credited to some APC leaders and governors on the number of people being registered through the e-membership exercise.

“I have listened and read a lot of commentaries about this APC e-registration thing. In fact, I read that the Enugu governor boasted a few days ago that they would register two million people in the ongoing e-membership exercise.

“I was left wondering if he is aware of the total population of his state before making such a promise to the APC. This is even coming from Enugu State, which is not traditionally an APC state. Mbah is just doing that just because he is a governor,” he said.

According to the Labour Party, the APC’s claim of registering nine million members within two weeks was aimed at creating justification for inflated figures during elections.

“These are preparations for the rigging of the 2027 election. If a political party can claim to have 9m new members in two weeks, there will be an easy justification to dish out figures because it is expected that every member of the party should vote for their candidates,” Asogwa said.

“Therefore, they are preparing the ground to let us know that they are having 9m votes already in the bank. In actual fact, that number doesn’t exist anywhere.”

He expressed surprise that Nigerians and opposition leaders had remained largely silent over the issue.

“But I am surprised that Nigerians and opposition leaders are keeping quiet while the ruling party is banding numbers around. I completely dispute that number,” he added.

Asogwa also recalled what he described as irregularities during previous voters’ registration exercises.

“That was also how INEC came up the other time with its continuous voters registration and overnight Osun State manufactured millions of voters. And I keep wondering how they came up with such a number in Osun.

“I am not talking about Lagos, Kano, Rivers or a state with a high volume of residents. We are talking about a small state, such as Osun, here. Where did they get it?” he asked.

Similarly, the National Publicity Secretary of the NNPP, Ladipo Johnson, dismissed the APC’s claim as familiar propaganda, insisting that previous exercises had not translated into electoral strength.

“It is nothing new. There was a time they did one, and only God knew how many members they claimed to have registered. They didn’t even get half of the votes from the so-called members,” Johnson said.

“We are used to all these tricks coming from them. It is nothing new. Even Nigerians know, and they are used to it. It is not a threat at all.

“How many sane Nigerians will go and waste their time registering for such a thing?”

The reactions followed claims by the APC National Working Committee that its nationwide digital membership registration was recording unprecedented success.

The party’s National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, had told journalists on Monday that the exercise would surpass nine million registered members within its first two weeks.

In the same vein, the National Secretary of the party, Ajibola Basiru, disclosed that over two million Nigerians had already completed registration in just one week.

“We are happy to inform Nigerians that just a week into the exercise, those who have registered as members of the APC are already over 2 million,” Basiru said.

“We envisage that by the time we make another assessment next week, we should have 8-9 million registered members.

“Any state that is found lagging, the National Working Committee has been given the latitude to change the coordinator of such state.”

With the 2027 polls still some distance away, the sharp exchanges underscore rising political tension, as opposition parties accuse the APC of laying the groundwork for electoral manipulation through what they describe as inflated membership figures.(Punch)