Full List: PDP, NDC governorship candidates dropped by INEC and Why
- INEC published its final list of governorship candidates for the February 6, 2027 elections, leaving out prominent names across four states
- The exclusions follow a Supreme Court ruling in September that restored Electoral Act 2026 provisions on party membership registers
- PDP candidates in Gombe and Ogun, as well as an NDC candidate in Kano and four party candidates in Bauchi, were all dropped from the list
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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has left out major governorship candidates from its final list ahead of the February 6, 2027 elections, with the omissions cutting across multiple states and political parties.
Among those excluded are Isa Pantami, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in Gombe State and former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy; Ladi Adebutu, the PDP's candidate in Ogun State; and Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Kano State.
Source: Twitter
In Bauchi, four parties lost their governorship candidates from the list entirely: the Social Democratic Party (SDP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Action Alliance (AA), and Accord Party.
INEC's published documents did not give reasons for any of the omissions.
Supreme Court ruling behind the omissions
The exclusions come weeks after the Supreme Court, on September 24, restored key provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 that the Court of Appeal had struck down in July.
The restored sections — 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) — bar any candidate from participating in a party primary unless their name appears on the membership register submitted to INEC within the required period. Parties that fail to submit their register on time are also barred from fielding candidates under the same law.
Why Pantami and Adebutu were left out
Pantami's case has a more layered history. A Federal High Court in Gombe nullified his original nomination on September 24, ruling that the May primary that produced him violated the party's internal procedures and excluded candidates who had already been screened and cleared. The court gave the PDP 30 days to hold a fresh primary. Pantami took part in that repeat primary on September 29 and won again, but his name still did not appear on INEC's final list.
For Adebutu, the issue centres on his membership status. Two civil society groups, the Ogun Democratic Accountability Forum and Elections Integrity Watch, raised concerns that his name was missing from the PDP membership register submitted to INEC. The Ogun State PDP dismissed those claims, saying Adebutu was a registered member and that the party had met all legal requirements for register submission. Despite the party's defence, neither Adebutu nor his running mate made it onto INEC's published list, leaving the PDP with no listed governorship candidate in Ogun State.
Source: Twitter
INEC dumps Adebutu from 2027 governorship race
Legit.ng earlier reported that INEC released its final list of governorship candidates for Ogun State, and PDP's Ladi Adebutu was not on it.
Adebutu and his running mate, both members of the PDP, were absent from the official list.
The exclusion raises questions about the status of the PDP's governorship bid in Ogun State.
Source: Legit.ng
