Youths from the Pankshin, Kanke and Kanam Federal Constituency staged a protest at the All Progressives Congress state secretariat in Jos, challenging the outcome of the party's House of Representatives primary election. They accused officials from the APC national secretariat of interfering in the collation process by replacing designated collation officers after results had already been submitted. The protest, described as peaceful, featured placards calling for fairness, justice and respect for internal democracy.
The petition, signed by aspirant Hon. John Tongshinen Gozhak on behalf of aggrieved members, stated that the Plateau APC had officially communicated the names of collation officers before the primary. These officers reportedly collated results from voting centres, but their work was later disregarded when individuals linked to the national secretariat entered the process. Protesters said this action undermined confidence in the party's democratic process. They demanded a review of the primary election and a full investigation into the alleged officer replacement.
Gozhak emphasized that the protest was not an act of hostility but a lawful appeal for justice within the party. The demonstrators called for the protection of votes cast by party members and urged the Plateau APC leadership to uphold its own structures. They insisted that the integrity of the APC must be preserved ahead of the 2027 general elections. As of the report's filing, neither Yusuf Adamu Gagdi nor the Plateau State APC had issued an official response to the allegations.
The same party structure that appointed collation officers was bypassed by its national agents, creating a direct contradiction in APC's claim of due process. If the votes were already tallied by authorized personnel, replacing them mid-process suggests the outcome was pre-determined. This undermines the stated commitment of Plateau APC members to internal democracy. The protest by Gozhak and youth members exposes a gap between the party's public stance and its operational decisions.
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