The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had its primary election for senatorial tickets in the 2027 general elections on Monday, May 19. The primary was widely monitored across the country as the ruling party opted for a direct primary across all the senatorial districts.
While the elections were widely contested among the bigwigs in the party, some popularly powerful senators lost their bid to return to the Senate at the primary. However, many of the senators are rejecting the outcome, and it was not clear if the party would still look into it, and maybe they would be returned.
Photo Credit: @OfficialAPCNg
Source: Twitter
At the same time, some of the aspirants withdrew from the race while others contested unopposed. Also, some were disqualified by the party, while others were defeated.
Below is the list of sitting senators who were defeated in the primary:
Ned Nwoko
The Delta North senator could not secure his return ticket to the Senate through the APC primary and lost to the immediate past governor of Delta, Ifeanyi Okowa.
Nwoko, a first-time senator, had won the seat on the platform of the APC but could not defeat Okowa, who recently joined the party along with Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, following the leadership crisis that rocked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In the Senate, the business mogul was popular for his advocacy for the creation of a new Anioma state, a development that was reported to have reached its peak, but it appeared many of its bigwigs in the senatorial district did not want the region to be categorised as part of the South East.
Neda Imasuen
Imaseun is the senator representing Edo South. He was elected on the platform of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, and defected to the ruling APC soon after he was sworn in as a member of the 10th Senate.
At the APC primary, the senator lost to Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, a former member of the House of Representatives. He had rejected the outcome of the poll in a trending video of his, alleging that the party chairman said they were told to adopt a consensus and that it was not necessary for him to appear for the primary.
Below is Imaseum’s trending video on X:
Senator Jibrin Isah
The Kogi East senator, popularly known as Echocho, lost his bid to return to the Senate for the third time in the APC primary and lost to Dr Erico Ameh. He had rejected the outcome of the poll and accused the ruling party of being biased.
In a trending video, the senator alleged that the election was not held in many wards as electoral materials were not deployed, including his own wards. He also claimed that the result of the direct primary was prepared at the government house.
See the video of his outburst on X here:
Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje
The senator representing Gombe Central for four consecutive terms failed to secure his move to return to the Senate for the fifth time and lost to retired DCP Mohammed Ahmed, who was backed by Governor Inuwa Yahaya.
According to The Punch, Goje, a former governor of the state, has rejected the outcome of the primary and described the result as fake, while calling for calm among his supporters.
Source: Legit.ng