Sumner Sambo, Editor for Politics at Arise News, has raised concerns over what he described as contradictory membership figures released by the All Progressives Congress (APC), questioning the credibility of the ruling party’s past and present claims. Speaking during an appearance on Arise Television’s Morning Show, Sambo revisited figures announced by the party ahead of the 2023 general elections and contrasted them with more recent declarations.
According to Sambo, the APC leadership publicly stated in March 2022 that the party had amassed about 41 million registered members nationwide. That figure, announced at the time by the chairman of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, was presented as evidence of the party’s growing influence and strength going into the elections. However, Sambo noted that recent disclosures by the party now place its membership at roughly 10 million, a dramatic drop that he said demands explanation.
He argued that the sharp reduction raises doubts about the accuracy of the earlier figure, especially when viewed against the outcome of the 2023 presidential election. Sambo pointed out that President Bola Tinubu won the election with approximately 8.7 million votes, a number that appears inconsistent with claims of a 41-million-strong party membership just a year earlier. He questioned what became of those millions of members and suggested that such inconsistencies fueled suspicions during the election period about attempts to shape public perception of electoral strength.
While critical of the conflicting figures, Sambo also acknowledged a positive development in the party’s current approach. He commended the APC for embracing technology in its ongoing membership registration exercise, describing it as a step in the right direction. According to him, a transparent, technology-driven process could help restore public confidence and provide more reliable data. Nonetheless, he maintained that the party owes Nigerians clarity—and possibly an apology—over the inflated figures previously announced, stressing that credibility in democratic politics is closely tied to honesty and accountability.
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