The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ajibola Basiru urged Nigeria’s opposition parties to withdraw from participating in the 2027 general elections if they are unprepared.
The APC’s Scribe remarks center on the digital readiness of political parties and their compliance with the Electoral Act regarding membership registers.
The APC National Scribe highlighted his party’s proactive approach to data management, noting that the APC has successfully integrated its digital registration process with the National Identification Number (NIN).
According to Basiru, this rigorous process has already captured approximately 12 million Nigerians, providing a verified and transparent database of party members.
Basiru dismissed complaints from opposition quarters regarding the timeframe for member registration, labeling such grievances as strange.
He pointed out that the current legal framework is actually more lenient than previous iterations.
According to him, the Old Law required the submission of a membership register 30 days before an election while the amended electoral act reduced this window to 21 days, giving parties more flexibility.
“The rule about registration is very clear. Even before the Electoral Act was amended, the law required data to be linked with the NIN. When the APC started its digital registration, we insisted on this linkage to ensure integrity,” Basiru stated.
The National Secretary accused the opposition parties of banalizing and attacking established institutions instead of focusing on their internal organization.
He suggested that if the opposition continues to struggle with basic administrative requirements like maintaining a membership register, they should consider withdrawing from the race entirely.
“It appears that the opposition parties are not ready to contest the election. If they are not so ready, rather than creating unnecessary names for established institutions, they could opt to boycott the election,” Basiru remarked.
