The delayed release of the official results of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary is heartache for senators, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said yesterday.

Akpabio, at the inauguration of the APC National Campaign Council for the June 20 Ekiti State Governorship Election, said senators are getting hypertensive over the delay in release of the list.

He appealed to the APC National Working Committee (NWC) to carry sitting federal lawmakers along when finalising the list to be submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“Some of my people (Senators) are having hypertension. So, they are really coming down with hypertension,” the Senate President, who co-chairs the campaign council, said.

“I am pleading with the party that when they bring out their final list, they need to show that they are carrying all of us along,” he added.

Akpabio also said that a lack of transparency after crucial NWC meetings often breeds resentment and a sense of alienation among federal lawmakers.

According to him, many of his colleagues in both the Senate and the House of Representatives often feel sidelined when the final names of candidates mysteriously appear without their input.

“You have the absolute right to choose anybody you want, and then for the President of Nigeria, he also has the right to make his choice,” Akpabio stated.

“But when anybody has lost the election on the ground, please don’t expect me, as chairman of the National Assembly, to come and plead with you to put the person back on the list. It simply means the person has lost,” he added.

Delivering a blunt verdict to ambitious politicians within the National Assembly, Akpabio warned that the leadership of the parliament would not serve as a safety net for failed campaigns.

“The Senate President, as chairman of the National Assembly, is saying that you should have done your homework well before going for the primaries,” he concluded.

APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda said the NWC has the final say on the list of candidate to be presented by the party for the 2027 elections.

Beginning from June 26, the parties will begin to upload their list of candidates after collecting the code to enable them access the INEC Portal. (The Nation)

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