Consensus negotiations for House of Representatives tickets in Kano State remained deadlocked on Thursday as leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) intensified efforts to prevent divisive contests across the state’s 24 federal constituencies.
The Kano APC Publicity Secretary, Auwal Soja, confirmed to Punch that consultations among aspirants and party leaders were still ongoing late into the evening.
“Consensus among the aspirants of the APC for the 24 federal constituency seats is still ongoing, which will hopefully be concluded by 10 pm today,” he said.
Soja, however, admitted that the party would conduct direct primaries in constituencies where consensus arrangements fail.
“As you know, the APC Constitution provides only for direct primaries and consensus as legitimate pathways for selecting candidates,” he added.
The Electoral Act 2026 allows political parties to adopt either direct primaries, where all registered party members participate in voting, or consensus arrangements backed by written consent from cleared aspirants.
Despite ongoing reconciliation efforts, indications emerged that consensus talks may encounter stiff resistance in some constituencies.
Party sources said tensions were particularly high in Kumbotso Federal Constituency, where supporters of rival aspirants had openly demanded competitive primaries instead of consensus arrangements.
Meanwhile, APC has postponed its House of Representatives primary election for the 2027 general elections by one day.
The ruling party announced that the exercise, initially scheduled to be held on Friday, May 15, would now take place on Saturday, May 16.
Naijaonpoint reports that the development was disclosed in a statement issued late Thursday by the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka.