The All Progressives Congress, APC, has explained its decision to extend its ongoing e-registration exercise and exclude some states from its forthcoming congresses.
The party’s National Working Committee, NWC, took the decision at its 183rd meeting held on Thursday, according to the National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka.
Morka said the NWC resolved to extend the party’s nationwide membership e-registration from January 31 to February 8, 2026, to allow more members to register.
He added that the party’s congresses would now hold on February 18, 2026, while the national convention has been fixed for March 27 and 28, 2026.
However, Morka said Rivers State, the Federal Capital Territory, Kogi State and Ekiti State would be excluded from the upcoming congresses.
Explaining the exclusion of Rivers State, he said the party conducted off-cycle congresses in the state last year and the tenure of the elected executives was still subsisting.
“With respect to Rivers, the tenure of the executives elected during the off-cycle congress is still subsisting, and we must wait for that tenure to expire before holding fresh congresses,” Morka said.
On the extension of the e-registration exercise, he said the decision was taken to accommodate party members who were still eager to register.
“There is no hidden explanation. We just want more members to register. We are responding to the clamour by enthusiastic members who are yet to register,” he added.
Morka disclosed that the party had already surpassed seven million registered members nationwide and was targeting over 12.5 million members by the close of the exercise on February 8.
Also speaking, the party’s National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru, said the extension followed requests from states and the APC Governors’ Forum.
Basiru said the e-registration exercise had been “tremendously successful,” adding that the party was also digitising its internal processes.
He said applications for the forthcoming congresses would, for the first time, be conducted online.
Basiru added that the requirement of National Identification Number and voter identification number for registration was aimed at ensuring legal compliance, financial inclusion and active political participation of party members.
The APC also approved the composition of the coordinating committee for its national convention, with details to be released on Monday.
