The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approved changes to its 2027 governorship candidates’ list after upholding 41 of the 69 petitions submitted by political parties, potentially restoring some candidates who were initially omitted from the electoral register.
The commission rejected the remaining 28 complaints after reviewing the submissions against its records and applicable electoral laws.
INEC’s Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, disclosed the figures in a statement on Thursday night. He said the petitions originated from 12 political parties across 26 states and raised concerns about omissions, wrongful inclusion of candidates and alleged multiple nominations.
The complaints exposed disputes over who qualified to appear on the commission’s final list, including allegations that some candidates were published despite their names being absent from the membership registers submitted by their parties.
Haruna explained that INEC approved the inclusion of candidates and political parties whose complaints were considered valid. It also removed names that had been wrongly published after confirming that they did not appear in the relevant party registers.
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The commission further deleted candidates whose nominations failed to satisfy the applicable legal requirements.
Although INEC did not identify the affected candidates or states, a source familiar with Thursday’s review said former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Kano State, Abdulsalam Gwarzo, had secured clearance to contest the 2027 elections.
Their clearance, however, remains subject to the outcome of pending court cases.
The source also disclosed that the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, seeking a reversal of his exclusion, was unsuccessful.
The decisions also affected contests for State Houses of Assembly, where INEC received 61 petitions from 11 political parties across 11 states. Twenty-five complaints succeeded, while 36 were rejected.
Unlike the governorship review, which produced 41 successful petitions, the legislative review recorded more unsuccessful complaints than successful ones. The figures indicate that INEC scrutinised candidate disputes across two electoral categories, applying its stated criteria to determine which names qualified for inclusion or removal.
The commission said the affected candidates, parties and states would feature in an updated list on its website.
The review is significant because the final candidate register determines who can proceed towards the 2027 elections under the identities and party affiliations recognised by INEC. However, the commission’s administrative decisions do not automatically settle disputes before the courts, particularly where litigation is still pending.
INEC reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and the credibility of the electoral process.
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