By Abdullahi Alhassan An APC senatorial aspirant for Zamfara North, Dr. Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, has rejected the outcome of the...
By Abdullahi Alhassan
An APC senatorial aspirant for Zamfara North, Dr. Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, has rejected the outcome of the party’s fresh primary election held on November 2, 2026, alleging widespread irregularities and a deliberate breakdown of due process.
Dr Shinkafi, who addressed his supporters in Gusau, said he has already petitioned the National Working Committee of the APC over what he described as “gross non-compliance and illegalities” in the conduct of the exercise.
According to him, the primary, which covered the four local government areas of Birnin-Magaji, Shinkafi, Kaura-Namoda and Zurmi, was nothing but “an orchestrated administrative ambush characterised by subversion of party guidelines and fabrication of phantom results.”
Missing Materials, No Accreditation
The aspirant listed several infractions that, he said, rendered the entire process invalid. He alleged that original, serialized and security-printed result sheets, as well as the official party registers, were systematically withheld across wards. In their place, he said, unauthorized photocopied sheets later surfaced in unauthorized locations after party members had already dispersed.
“This violates Section B(iii)k-L of the APC Guidelines for Direct and Consensus Primaries,” Shinkafi stated.
He also said there was no accreditation whatsoever. “APC membership cards were not verified against the NWC-certified register. Thousands of party members were disenfranchised, contrary to Sections B(i) and B(iii)f,g,h of the guidelines,” he added.
Confusion, Armed Men and Parallel Collation
Dr Shinkafi further accused the election management team of creating confusion through conflicting timelines, unannounced changes of venues, and what he called an information blackout.
He alleged that voting centers were besieged by unauthorized armed actors, including irregular security details and heavily armed soldiers.
“My agents were intimidated and driven away with gunshots,” he said. “This violates Section 96(5) & (6), Section 97(1), Section 132 and Section 27(3) of the Electoral Act, 2026.”
The aspirant also alleged that the process was hijacked by self-appointed Local Government Collation Officers who were never deployed by the NWC, in violation of Section C(iii) of the APC guidelines.
“Results were clandestinely generated in private locations, away from accredited agents. That is contrary to Section C(iii)(a-b) and Section C(vii)(d),” he said.
He added that party agents were denied access to result sheets and copies, in breach of Sections B(iii)b and B(ii).
Conflicting Winners Declared
Dr Shinkafi said the chaos was compounded by conflicting declarations from the primary committee.
He claimed that while the Chairman of the Committee, a retired military officer, announced Senator Sahabi Ya’u Kaura as winner, another member of the same committee declared Senator Tijjani Yahaya Kaura as winner.
He was categorical that there was never any consensus arrangement between him and Senator Tijjani or any other aspirant.
Citing Sections 84-88 of the Electoral Act, 2026, Shinkafi said the law is clear: where a political party fails to comply with the Act and its own constitution, the candidate produced from such a process shall not be recognized.
Four Demands to NWC
The aspirant is now asking the APC NWC to intervene urgently. His demands include: Immediate nullification of the purported primary across the four LGAs;
Setting aside any purported nominee and refusal to transmit any name to INEC; Ordering a fresh, transparent direct primary across the four LGAs, to be monitored by INEC and conducted by an untainted panel appointed by the NWC;
Sanctioning of all actors who compromised the integrity of the party’s process.
“The APC must choose between upholding its constitution and the rule of law, or allowing impunity to thrive. The people of Zamfara North deserve a transparent process to choose their senator for 2027,” Shinkafi concluded.
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