2027: Candidates, Parties Battle INEC Over Final List

• We published names submitted by political parties — Commission
• Aggrieved candidates, parties head to court

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.

Orette Raises Alarm Over Delta South

In Delta State, the Austin Orette Campaign Organisation has protested the alleged omission of Dr Austin Orette’s name from the final list for the Delta South Senatorial District.

The organisation said Orette remains the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate for the district and called on INEC to correct what it described as an omission.

In a statement signed by its director of public affairs, Ovie Omajemite, and made available to LEADERSHIP Sunday, the organisation said, “Dr Austin Orette is the rightful candidate for the Delta South senatorial election.”

It urged INEC to “restore or update its register,” warning that “wrongful exclusion will completely nullify the 2027 Delta South senatorial election in court.”

The organisation also alleged that the omission was a ploy by INEC and the ruling party to prevent the ADC from winning the senatorial election.

The allegation has not been independently substantiated.

NDC Accuses INEC of Replacing Candidates

Another aggrieved party, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has accused INEC of removing some of its nominated candidates and replacing them with names the party said it did not authorise.

The party’s national chairman, Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, made the allegation after INEC published candidates for the 2027 State Houses of Assembly elections, particularly in Anambra State.

Zuwoghe alleged that 10 names published as NDC candidates in various constituencies were unknown to the party and had not been submitted by its leadership.

He said the party had completed its primaries and appeal process before uploading its final list through the INEC portal.

According to him, some of the names remained in “pending” status, after which the party discovered that other names had been published as its candidates.

Zuwoghe further alleged that INEC officials collected Form EC-9 directly from some of the disputed candidates and subsequently published their names.

The NDC chairman demanded an investigation into the matter, maintaining that the affected individuals were not the party’s authorised candidates.

INEC has previously denied the allegation, maintaining that it has no legal authority to select, insert or substitute candidates for political parties.

NNPP Candidate Missing From Final List

Another controversy centres on the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), whose presidential candidate, Suleiman Mohammed Dikwa, was omitted from the final presidential list despite having appeared on an earlier provisional list.

The development has triggered an internal investigation within the party.

The chairman of the NNPP State Chairmen’s Forum, Mamman Damisa, confirmed that investigations were ongoing but said he had been instructed not to speak publicly about the matter until it was resolved.

The circumstances surrounding Dikwa’s omission have therefore raised another question within the wider controversy over the transition from provisional to final candidate lists.

Lawyers Give Legal Perspective

Against the backdrop of the disputes, two lawyers have offered their interpretations of the legal position on the removal of candidates’ names submitted to INEC by political parties.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Abdul Balogun, said INEC could not unilaterally remove a candidate’s name from a list submitted by a political party.

Balogun, who spoke with our correspondent, said, “INEC cannot remove a candidate’s name without a valid court order. Any such action by INEC on its own would be unlawful.”

“There must be a court order for INEC to act before it can make such a decision. Without a court order, INEC cannot,” he added.

Also, constitutional lawyer Abel Apeh said a candidate who believes their name was wrongly removed from a list could seek judicial redress.

Apeh said, “Only a court order can remove a candidate’s name submitted to INEC by a political party. INEC cannot do so.”

The views of the two lawyers have added a legal dimension to the controversy, particularly regarding the circumstances under which a candidate can be removed, substituted or omitted after a political party has submitted its list to the electoral commission.

The Battle for the Ballot

With the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 2027, the disputes have brought the candidate nomination process into sharper focus.

At the heart of the controversy is a fundamental question: whether the names published in INEC’s final list accurately reflect the candidates that the political parties validly submitted.

While INEC insists that it published the parties’ uploads using the access codes provided to them, affected candidates and some political parties maintain that the final lists contain omissions or names they did not authorise.

For those challenging the lists, the next battleground may therefore be the courts, where the parties will be required to produce records, nomination documents and other evidence to establish who was validly nominated for the 2027 ballot.

EXPLAINER

1

** INEC’s Position**

INEC says political parties uploaded their candidates through access codes provided by the commission, insisting it published exactly what the parties submitted.

2

Candidates Protest

Several candidates say their names were omitted from the final list, with affected aspirants challenging the discrepancies and threatening or pursuing legal action.

3

Parties Raise Alarm

Some parties allege that INEC published unauthorised names or removed valid candidates. INEC denies substituting candidates, saying nomination disputes remain internal party matters.

4

Lawyers Weigh In

Lawyers say candidates who believe they were wrongly excluded can seek judicial redress, stressing that courts may determine whether removals or substitutions were lawful.

5

Court Battles Loom

With the 2027 elections approaching, affected candidates and parties may rely on courts to establish which nominations were valid and whose names should appear.