The ruling All Progressives Congress held a meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC) on Wednesday and took far-reaching decisions.
It was the first meeting of the NEC, after the election of the APC’s chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, and his executives on 26 March.
The meeting was attended by President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Here are the five major decisions the party’s leaders took:
Primary Election Timetable
The NEC released a schedule for the APC’s primary elections, ahead of the 2023 General Election.
A notice of election to state chapters would start on 22 April.
The sale of forms for elective offices will begin the following day (23 April) and run until 6 May.
The congress to elect state and national delegates will take place between 7 and 9 May, after which the screening of aspirants would commence.
Those seeking to be elected into state Houses of Assembly and governorship positions will be screened on 12 May.
Aspirants for the House of Representatives and Senate will be screened on 13 May and persons seeking to be president will be screened on 14 May.
Governorship and state legislative aspirants have 13 May and 14 May for the publication of objections and appeals, respectively.
Presidential and National Assembly aspirants have 14 May for the publication of objections and 17 May for appeals.
The primaries will come after the settlement of appeals.
The governorship, state House of Assembly, House of Representatives, and Senate primaries have been fixed for 18, 20, 22, and 24 May respectively.
The special convention for the presidential primary will take place between 30 May and 1 June.
N100m for Presidential Nomination Forms
The party’s presidential aspirants would be paying N100 million to buy nomination forms.
These include N30 million for the Expression of Interest form and N70 million for the nomination form.
Governorship candidates will pay N50 million for the forms.
Approved at the 11th NEC Meeting, total approved amounts for Expression of Interest/Nomination Forms for the 2023 Elections are:
— APC Nigeria (@OfficialAPCNg) April 20, 2022
1. House of Assembly - N2,000,000
2. House of Reps - N10,000,000
3. Senate - N20,000,000
4. Governorship - N50,000,000
4. Presidential - N100,000,000 pic.twitter.com/tdYyZT8fut
Those of the House of Representatives and the Senate will cost N10 million and N20 million respectively, while the forms for the state House of Assembly are N2 million.
Free Nomination Forms for Women and Persons with Disabilities
Women and persons with disabilities can pick up nomination forms without paying a kobo.
Persons under 40 will however be required to pay half of the cost of nomination.
What this means is that aspirants for president, governor, Senate, House of Representatives, and State House of Assembly can pay N50 million, N25 million, N10 million, N5 million, and N1 million respectively for Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms.
Indirect Primaries
The NEC did not approve any mode of primaries but the Kebbi State governor said all indications point to indirect primaries to select the APC's candidates for the 2023 elections.
This means that delegates will likely decide the flag bearers of the party at the state congresses and at the national convention.
This is a departure from the consensus model used when the APC elected its national officers last month.
Transfer of Powers to NWC
Another major decision reached at the NEC meeting was the transfer of power to the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) for 90 days.
The NWC which is led by the party chairman, Abdullahi Adamu will now take decisions on behalf of the party’s NEC.
