2027: APC moves to bypass governors over polling agents
Party may pay election funds directly to candidates amid sabotage fears By Dayo Johnson, Akure AKURE — The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has reportedly directed its candidates…
Polling agents are central to Nigeria's election process, representing political parties at voting units to monitor accreditation, voting and collation, and to sign result sheets on the party's behalf. Because state governors typically control party structures and campaign machinery in their states, they have historically played a major role in nominating and funding these agents — giving them significant influence over how elections are run and, critics say, over outcomes for candidates they do not favour.
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, reports indicate the APC's national leadership is moving to take that process away from governors, with candidates reportedly directed to submit agents' names directly to the party's national headquarters, and funding possibly channelled straight to candidates. The move points to internal party anxiety about governors using control of agent nominations to sabotage candidates they are at odds with, a recurring source of friction within Nigeria's ruling and opposition parties alike. Both Vanguard and Tribune frame the development as part of a brewing internal crisis, though neither report yet details how the new arrangement would work in practice, which states or candidates are affected, or how governors have responded.