[5][6][7] However, in the weeks afterward, one of the minor candidates withdrew his appeal and Uba's nomination was voided after a court ruled that the APC gubernatorial primary was illegally conducted.
[15] All 14 candidates were cleared and another seven-member committee was appointed to oversee the primary, led by Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun.
[19] In response, the national APC set up a five-member appeal committee led by Gombe State Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya.
"[21] In October, Moghalu sued the APC, claiming that no primary had taken place and demanding a refund on his nomination form fee.
The party planned to screen candidates in mid-June before the primary and to ratify the nominee at a National Working Committee meeting on June 27.
[32] However, the next day, the Jude Okeke-led faction of the national APGA intervened by moving the primary to July 1 and declaring the disqualifications null and void.
[39] INEC National Commissioner in charge of Publicity and Voter Education Festus Okoye had previously stated that the lack of notification violated the Electoral Act 2010, however, later that day, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman Rotimi Oyekanmi claimed that APGA had not been disqualified and that reporters were misinterpreting Okoye's letter to APGA.
Oyekanmi also said that the Commission did not recognize the Okeke faction or its suspension of Soludo, stating that the members of APGA leadership were on the INEC website and had not changed.
[40][41] However, on June 1, the Delta State High Court ruled in favour of the Okeke faction's primaries, throwing the APGA into further chaos as Soludo had just picked Onyekachukwu Ibezim as his running mate.
[45] On the other hand, Soludo vowed to sue, stating "I will be the candidate of APGA in the election," while Oye called INEC's acceptance of Umeoji "an embarrassment to Nigeria as a nation and its leaders.
[50][10] On May 26, Eagle-Badger Consulting released a straw poll of PDP delegates that showed 62% support for zoning the PDP governorship nomination to Anambra South, along with a question asking respondents to name three aspirants who they thought could win the election: the three names mentioned most frequently were Valentine Ozigbo (49.63%), Uche Ekwunife (15.63%), and Obiora Okonkwo (12.66%).
[63] On July 5, a High Court temporarily stayed the recognition of Ozigbo as the PDP nominee due to a challenge from Ugochukwu Uba.
[64] In accordance with the court order, when INEC published the list of party nominees later that day, the PDP line was left blank.
[82][83] On Tuesday, the 13th of October 2021, Gunmen invaded the location of an All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, rally at Odoata Central School Field in Ihiala, engaging security officers in Governor Willie Obiano's convoy in a one-hour gunfight.
[84] On May 24, 2021, gunmen burned down the state headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission amidst a rise in attacks on INEC offices nationwide.
[85][86] In August 2021, INEC Chairman and National Commissioner in charge of Publicity and Voter Education Festus Okoye revealed that half of the non-sensitive materials pre-delivered for the administrative tasks of the election were destroyed in the May attack.
[88] As further preparations were announced, the planned storage of non-sensitive materials in the INEC zonal office in Owerri, Imo State caused controversy.
[94] Other questions around election administration included the ability for INEC to provide proper arrangements for riverine communities and potential threats that could drive down voter turnout from both IPOB and "unknown gunman.
[4] CDD noted the widespread and open practice of vote-buying and recommended that INEC and security agencies take measures to address the issues before the 2023 general election.
[104] When the Ihiala supplementary election held, there were again reports of late INEC officials along with a three-hour long battle between police and gunman which disrupted voting in two communities.
[105][106] Despite this incident, most of the LGA was able to hold elections and in the early morning of November 10, Obi declared Soludo the winner as Ihiala's votes did not make up the difference for either Ozigbo or Uba.
On the other hand, APGA refuted Ejidike's original statement and praised President Buhari for giving INEC the independence to hold a fair election.
[114][115] For the APC, President Muhammadu Buhari along with Labour and Employment Minister and former Anambra Governor Chris Ngige congratulated Soludo, but nominee Uba rejected the results with claims of fraud and collusion between the Obiano administration, INEC, and security forces.
[121][122] In late November 2021, the first litigation surrounding the general election to be ruled upon was a disqualification lawsuit against Soludo and Ibezim claiming that Soludo had provided false forms to INEC and thus should be disqualified from the election;[123] on 2 December, the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed the lawsuit as frivolous and fined the two plaintiffs ₦2 million for wasting judicial time and attempting to undermine democracy.