They Took Millions, Refused To Give Me Nomination Form - APC Aspirant Alleges Fraud Ahead Of Party Convention

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) faces allegations of collecting millions of naira from aspirants aiming to contest party positions, only to reportedly withhold nomination forms by claiming the positions were already filled.

According to SaharaReporters, one of the affected aspirants, Paul Yovwe Oyiborume, said on Thursday that his experience during preparations for the party’s national convention was both frustrating and deeply unfair.

Oyiborume, a long-time member and pioneer youth leader of the party in his local government area, said he had paid millions of naira for nomination forms but was ultimately denied the chance to contest.

He explained that he initially purchased a form to run for the position of National Secretary of the APC, only to later be informed that the slot had already been zoned to the South-West and earmarked specifically for Ajibola Basiru of Osun State.

He said, “Normally, I bought from our convention. You know, the APC convention. They published the positions and we decided to buy the form. When I bought the form, I was running for the National Secretary of the party.

“When you pay in the bank, you take the teller to the finance department of the party for them to confirm the money. After that, they will issue you a receipt acknowledging that you have paid your money.

“But after I paid the money, they refused to give me a receipt for the National Secretary form. They said that position had been moved to the South-West, to Osun State, and in fact to Senator Ajibola Basiru, the current National Secretary.”

Oyiborume said party officials bluntly told him the position could no longer be contested, despite the fact that the nomination forms were still being sold.

He told SaharaReporters that after several arguments with officials at the party’s finance department, the National Financial Secretary advised him to instead contest for a position zoned to his geopolitical zone.

“So nobody could revise their position again,” he said. “They were just blunt about it in the finance department.

“After much talk, talk, talk, I saw the National Financial Secretary who told me, ‘My brother, it is better you take the position that is zoned to your geopolitical zone and to your state. That one is better.’”

According to him, the position zoned to Delta State was National Publicity Secretary, prompting him to make another payment.

“I am from Delta State, so the position zoned to Delta State is National Publicity Secretary. I then paid for that one, about N5.1 million,” he said.

However, Oyiborume alleged that even after making the payment and receiving confirmation, he was still denied the nomination form by officials at the party’s organising department.

He said, “The National Financial Secretary told them to provide my receipt, and after that I went to the organising department where they issue the forms.

“One of the boys there, the person they put in charge of issuing the forms, Issa, kept me there for a whole day.

“He kept telling me, ‘Okay, I’m coming. Let me check.’ He would say come in, come out, bring the teller, bring everything.

“I gave him the receipt and he checked it. He snapped the documents and sent them somewhere. I don’t know where he sent them to.

“When he came back, he said there was no way he would give me the form.”

Oyiborume said the official could not clearly explain why the form would not be issued to him despite evidence of payment.

“He couldn’t tell me anything clearly,” he said. “He was just tossing me around.”

According to him, he was asked to return the following day but still could not obtain the form.

“That night, Issa told me to come the following day. I went there and stayed until about 2:30 p.m., and the guy still did not give me the form,” he said.

“In my whole life, I have never seen this kind of thing.”

Oyiborume also accused members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) of sidelining the convention committee set up to oversee the process.

He alleged that the committee members were effectively prevented from performing their duties.

“This is a convention. No matter what, the party should set up a convention committee to oversee everything,” he said.

“But the current NWC set up the committee and still they are the ones doing everything. They don’t allow the committee members to do anything at all. They were just threatening everybody.”

He further claimed that when he attempted to report the issue to the chairman of the convention committee, the official declined to intervene.

“I went to see the chairman of the convention committee. He said he didn’t want to talk about it,” Oyiborume alleged.

“So I told myself that all of them have compromised.”

Oyiborume accused party leaders of deliberately avoiding internal contests because they feared defeat.

“They are scared of contests. They don’t want it because they are failures. They are serious failures,” he said.

“Because they feel that if they go for contests, they will lose. That is why they are doing what they are doing.”

He argued that a convention should provide a fair platform for aspirants to compete for leadership positions.

“If they can give us a playground to aspire, if they are popular, why are they afraid of contests?” he asked.

“You cannot bring people from all the 36 states of the federation to a convention and then say nobody should contest. What are you bringing them to come and do?”

Oyiborume also questioned the legitimacy of what he described as a predetermined process.

“Initially, I was running for National Secretary of the party. But after consultations with leaders, my followers and supporters, we said let us not rebel against the party. Let us accept the zoning arrangement.”

He explained that zoning arrangements, though not part of the constitution, are often used in Nigerian politics to maintain balance among regions.

“Normally, zoning is not in our constitution and it is not in the Nigerian Constitution,” he said.

“It is just a gentleman’s agreement to foster peace, unity and progress so that everybody will be carried along.”

He said he has been part of the APC since its formation in 2013 alongside Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whom he described as one of the party’s founding leaders.

“I am a pioneer youth leader of the party in my local government area. From 2013 to date, I have been in this party,” he said.

“We started this party with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I started from the cradle.”

Despite his long involvement in the party, Oyiborume said the current situation has left him questioning the integrity of the process.

“I went further to report the matter to the convention committee,” he said. “They told me nothing would happen again and that they were working on a process.

“They said they don’t want any election at the convention and they just want to come and do everything.”

He said the development defeats the purpose of holding an elective convention.

“Why is it called a convention? Why is it called an elective convention?” he asked.

“You will bring people from 36 states to come for a convention. What are you bringing them to do if there will be no contest?”

According to him, consensus arrangements should only be discussed after aspirants have obtained forms and expressed interest in contesting.

“It is when people obtain forms that they can sit around a round table and discuss consensus,” he said.

“But in this case, I no longer understand the politics again.”

Oyiborume further criticised the party leadership, accusing them of failing members and sidelining loyal party supporters in government appointments.

“People say it is politics, but this is not politics anymore,” he said.

“Politics is about serving the people and serving party members.

“Look at what is happening everywhere. This present leadership has failed us.”

He added, “This is a party where staff appointments and key positions are handed out without regard for party members. They bring in outsiders and call them ‘technocrats.’

“What about those of us who built the party?”

Oyiborume, however, demanded answers from the party leadership.

“I just want to know why they did this,” he said. “Why did they collect money from people and still refuse to allow them to contest?”

When SaharaReporters contacted the party’s spokesperson, Dr. Felix Morka, he said he does not answer questions from people he does not know.

“I typically do not respond to questions from people I do not know. I would suggest that you send your enquiry in writing so I can properly review your queries and hopefully respond.”