By Femi Bolaji,

Jalingo — An All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Taraba State, Chief David Sabo Kente, has alleged that no direct primary elections were conducted to determine the party’s candidates for the Federal House of Representatives seats ahead of the 2027 general election.

Addressing the press in Jalingo on Sunday, Kente claimed that any result declared from the exercise would be entirely fabricated and could only be termed cooked.

The frontline aspirant noted that besides the fact that election officials and materials arrived in the state extremely late on Saturday afternoon, pre-recorded videos of purported voting had already begun circulating on social media before any official process had even commenced.

He argued that these videos were part of the manufactured optics designed to lay the groundwork for predetermined results.

Kente further warned that if the party proceeds with validating these outcomes, it will inevitably trigger a wave of intense litigations from aggrieved aspirants and party members who are dissatisfied with the handling of the process.

It will be recalled that the APC committee responsible for conducting the House of Representatives primaries arrived in Jalingo around 2:30 pm on Saturday.

The state publicity secretary of APC, Aaron Artimas, who confirmed their arrival said the delay would not affect the conduct of the election.

The Chairman of the committee, Dr. Tsenongo Abancha, who later spoke to the press apologized to party members for the delay, attributing the late arrival to severe transportation challenges and flight disruptions from Abuja.

While Abancha had assured party faithful that the primaries would be handled in a transparent and credible manner across the state, Kente’s counter-claims indicate a deepening crisis within the state chapter over the integrity of the ballot.

As at the time of filing this report, no official result of the winners of the primary election has been declared.