By Umar Dankano,Yola.
A governorship Aspirant under the All progressives Congress APC Dr.Salihu Bakari Girei in the just concluded Adamawa State primary election held on 21 May 2026 has raised concerns about omission of his name in the process.
Bakari made the issue public while addressing the press in on Friday protesting that he participated fully in all laid down procedures right from the purchase of nomination and expression of intent forms up to screening by the committee which was successful all through but only to discover his name was not on the final cleared names of the Aspirants.
Bakari wondered what went wrong for his name to got committed on transit while Aspirants who didn’t passed the screening exercise had against their names “not cleared” clearly written on the released list by the committee.
He humbly therefore called on the national chairman of the party to do the necessary amendment for clarity and fairness as required by the electoral guidelines as well as the party’s rules.
“I, Salihu Bakari, duly purchased the party’s governorship nomination form with the intention of contesting in the 2026 governorship primaries under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In line with the party’s guidelines and procedures, I honoured the invitation of the screening committee and successfully participated in the screening exercise.
“However, to my utmost surprise, I discovered that the list released by the committee responsible for conducting the primary election omitted my name entirely without any explanation or stated reason.
“For clarity, at no point after my screening was I notified of any disqualification, adverse finding, or decision affecting my eligibility. I was also never invited or requested to appear before the post screening Appeal Committee. Therefore, throughout the process, there was nothing whatsoever to indicate that I had been disqualified or was otherwise excluded from participation in the primary election.
“What makes this omission more concerning is that candidates who did not meet the screening requirements were clearly identified on the released list as “Not Cleared.” In my own case, my name does not appear at all despite having undergone and successfully completed the screening process.
“This omission raises serious concerns about fairness, transparency and equal opportunity in the conduct of the party’s internal democratic process and has effectively denied me the opportunity to participate in the exercise.
“This is clearly a flagrant disregard and breach of the Nigerian constitution, the electoral law, as well as party and INEC guidelines.
“In view of the foregoing, I humbly appeal to the National Chairman, through the Adamawa State APC Appeal Committee, to kindly intervene by reviewing the circumstances surrounding my omission, restoring my name on a revised list of cleared aspirants, and ordering the conduct of a fresh primary election to enable me participate fully and fairly in the process”. Bakari appealed.