The All Progressives Congress National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, has defended the party's decision to substitute some candidates after its primaries, saying the changes were based on the outcome of petitions and internal reviews.

Morka said the APC did not declare anyone a winner who failed to take part in the primary process, while responding to claims that the party replaced candidates arbitrarily or handed tickets to individuals who did not participate in the exercise. He said the party received more than 720 petitions from aggrieved aspirants after the primaries.

He explained that the petitions were considered by appeal committees before recommendations were forwarded to the National Working Committee, which conducted further reviews before approving the substitutions, adding that the primary election process includes dispute resolution beyond the voting stage.

He dismissed allegations that the APC gave tickets to individuals who neither obtained nomination forms nor participated in the primaries, maintaining that the substitutions were legitimate outcomes of the party's electoral process.