Breaking: INEC Delists Some Candidates From Its Final List
- INEC published a list of candidates for governorship and state house of assembly seats on October 10, 2026, but later removed some names
- The commission linked the exclusions to a Supreme Court ruling that made the submission of party membership registers mandatory
- INEC spokesman Mohammed Haruna confirmed some candidates were cleared subject to pending court cases, while others were not
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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed the names of certain candidates who were initially included on its published list for the 2027 general elections, while clearing others to contest subject to the outcomes of court proceedings.
INEC had on October 10, 2026, published a list of candidates cleared for governorship and state house of assembly races. The absence of several prominent names from that list drew attention, including Isa Ali Pantami, the former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Gombe State; Ladi Adebutu, the PDP governorship candidate in Ogun State; and Abdulsalam Gwarzo, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Kano State.
Why INEC excluded the candidates
The commission traced the exclusions to a September 24, 2026, Supreme Court judgement, which upheld the constitutionality of Section 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026. That provision requires political parties to submit membership registers as a condition for fielding candidates. INEC said it applied the ruling while finalising the list, citing Section 287(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which compels authorities to give effect to decisions of superior courts.
Parties that believed their candidates had been wrongly left off were asked to formally notify INEC under Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026. The deadline for such notifications was October 24, 2026.
INEC confirms clearance of some candidates
Mohammed Haruna, Chairman of the commission's Information and Voter Education Committee, confirmed that Pantami and Gwarzo were among the candidates cleared to proceed, though their participation remains contingent on the outcomes of ongoing court cases. Haruna also confirmed the exact number of petitions received from parties and how many scaled through, details that aligned with an earlier report by Daily Trust.
However, sources indicated that the commission declined to extend the same clearance to Adebutu. The decision followed a meeting convened specifically to review petitions submitted by political parties disputing the omissions, with the sources noting that a formal statement from INEC would follow.
Haruna also confirmed that some names that appeared on the October 10 list have since been delisted, without specifying the total number affected.
Source: Legit.ng
