2027: INEC Rejects Jonathan’s Candidacy Submitted By Turaki-Led PDP

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has rejected the presidential nomination of former President Goodluck Jonathan submitted by the Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the 2027 general elections.

The Turaki-led faction had earlier on Friday claimed that it manually submitted Jonathan’s nomination and those of other candidates fielded by the faction to INEC.

The development has further deepened the leadership crisis rocking the opposition party.

However, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, told Saturday Vanguard that the commission only accepts nominations submitted through its designated electronic platform.

“Submission is only done on a dedicated portal as stipulated by our regulations and guidelines please,” she said.

But the National Publicity Secretary of the Turaki-led faction, Ini Ememobong, said the committee resorted to manual submission after INEC allegedly refused to provide the access codes required for electronic filing.

Ememobong argued that the access codes were only an administrative requirement and not a legal condition for the submission of candidates.

“Notwithstanding INEC’s refusal to provide us with the necessary access codes… we have successfully submitted, manually and in full compliance with the Electoral Act 2026, the list of candidates sponsored by the authentic Peoples Democratic Party,” he said.

He said the submission covered Jonathan’s presidential nomination as well as the names of candidates for governorship, National Assembly and state assembly seats.

According to him, INEC acknowledged receipt of the documents despite the disagreement over which faction of the PDP is recognised by the commission.

Ememobong also warned INEC against publishing a list of candidates different from those submitted by his faction, saying the committee would pursue all available legal avenues to protect its position.

He said, “Should the Commission publish names other than those lawfully submitted by us… we are exhausting every constitutional, legal and democratic avenue to ensure that our Party is not hijacked or annexed to the ruling party.”

Explaining the origin of the leadership crisis, Ememobong said the PDP Board of Trustees and a requisitioned National Executive Committee meeting constituted an Interim National Working Committee after a Supreme Court judgment allegedly left the party without a legally recognised national leadership.

He said the faction subsequently approached the courts after INEC refused to recognise the interim leadership despite being formally notified of its emergence.

Ememobong also criticised a subsequent Federal High Court judgment on the dispute, describing it as an attempt to revisit issues he said had already been settled by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.

“The judgment… reads more like an appeal on the judgment of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. It is clearly inconsistent with the extant decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal that form the foundation of our case,” he said.

He disclosed that the faction had appealed the judgment and would also challenge alleged discrepancies between the judgment delivered in court and its Certified True Copy.

The PDP faction further accused INEC of failing to maintain the neutrality expected of the electoral umpire in resolving the party’s internal crisis.

“INEC’s actions have regrettably reinforced the growing public perception that it is no longer acting with the impartiality expected of the nation’s electoral umpire,” Ememobong said.

He alleged that INEC withheld relevant information during court proceedings involving the PDP and ignored congresses monitored by the commission.

Ememobong also alleged that the crisis in the PDP was part of a broader attempt to weaken opposition parties and promote one-party dominance in Nigeria.

“We were the pioneer target for opposition dismantling and capture… but it has now spread to almost all the opposition parties,” he said.

He urged Nigerians to defend multiparty democracy, warning that unchecked electoral authoritarianism could undermine the country’s democratic development.

Despite the setback, Ememobong expressed confidence that his faction would eventually prevail in its legal and political efforts to retain control of the PDP.