By Ademu Idakwo and Olakunle Olasanmi, Abuja
The final list of candidates released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2027 general elections has sparked fresh disputes, with candidates and political parties challenging alleged omissions and substitutions.
From the presidential race to the Senate and State Houses of Assembly, affected candidates and parties have raised concerns over names missing from the final list. Some have threatened legal action, while others have already commenced court proceedings.
INEC, however, has rejected allegations that it altered candidates’ lists submitted by political parties, insisting that the parties themselves uploaded the names using access codes provided by the commission.
Speaking in an interview with LEADERSHIP Sunday, the deputy director, Voter Education and Publicity, Wilfred Ifogah, said the commission published what the political parties submitted.
“INEC did not commit any infraction. The commission handed over access codes to all the political parties to upload their candidates’ names, and INEC published what was submitted,” Ifogah said.
He questioned why individual candidates were challenging the published lists without corresponding complaints from their respective party leaderships.
“Why is it that it is only the candidates that are crying and the party leadership has not said anything?” he asked.
According to him, disputes over the names uploaded by political parties should be resolved within the parties rather than being blamed on the electoral commission.
“To us, it is an internal matter of the party, and they should resolve the matter without dragging the commission into it,” Ifogah said.
The commission’s position, however, has failed to settle the controversy, as several candidates and parties insist that the final list does not reflect the nominations they submitted.
Hashim Challenges Exclusion
One of the prominent disputes involves the Accord Party presidential candidate, Dr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, whose name was not included in INEC’s final presidential list.
Olawepo-Hashim is already challenging his exclusion at the Federal High Court in Abuja in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1263/2026. He is seeking, among other reliefs, an order compelling the Accord Party to recognise him as its presidential candidate and transmit his name to INEC.
The case has been heard, with judgment reserved.
Reacting to his exclusion from the final list, Olawepo-Hashim said, “I am the candidate of the Accord Party. No one can exclude me from the 2027 presidential election. The court will do justice.”
He also maintained that the publication of the final list did not determine the pending legal dispute over his candidacy.
“The publication by INEC is not the final determination of my candidacy. There is a subsisting legal dispute before the court, and I have confidence in the judicial process,” he said.
Olawepo-Hashim has maintained that he emerged from the Accord Party’s presidential primary conducted on May 30, 2026, while the circumstances surrounding his nomination remain the subject of the court case.
