INEC to decide on Pantami, Gwarzo, Adebutu, others October 29

Scores of petitions have flooded the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) challenging the omission of names of candidates submitted by some political parties to the commission ahead the 2027 general elections.

Sources at the commission which confirmed this to Daily Trust said the issues raised by all the aggrieved candidates would be addressed at its next meeting, scheduled for Thursday, October 29.

“There was a kind of a preliminary report, but the final report can only come out after the deadline for receiving petition.

“So, our next meeting I know it’s on Thursday because even the chairman is on Zonal tour. Today (Sunday) or tomorrow (Monday) he should be in Gombe and come back on Wednesday. And when they come back on Wednesday, we will have a meeting on Thursday,” he said

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The sources, who spoke to Daily Trust on condition of anonymity, said the commission had received many petitions before the expiration of the 14-day window allowed for aggrieved political parties and other concerned parties to challenge candidates’ nominations.

The window, which elapsed on Saturday, was provided following the publication of the candidates’ particulars by INEC.

“Yesterday (Saturday) was the final day for receiving petitions. Up until that time, we were still receiving petitions,” one of the sources said.

The petitions include those relating to the omission of the names of the former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Pantami; Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate, Abdulsalam Gwarzo; his counterpart in Kaduna State, Senator Danjuma Laah; Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate nominee for Benue State, Sebastine Hon; the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, and others.

Another source explained that the commission had received a preliminary report on the petitions but would consider the final report after the deadline for submissions.

“It was a kind of preliminary report. But the final report will come after the deadline for receiving petitions,” the source added.

Asked how many political parties had filed petitions, the source said he could not provide a definite figure.

He said all submissions were directed to the INEC chairman for consideration with advice from the relevant departments.

“Of course, all petitions are addressed to the chairman. You need to sit down with them for the advice of the department. As a department, we have been going through all that, and they had a preliminary report,” the source said.

On whether the controversy surrounding Pantami’s candidacy would be considered at the next meeting, the source said the commission would examine the petitions in line with the law.

“All the cases. It is what the law says. After publication, they have two weeks to petition, whether they think it will be fair or unfair to them,” the source said.

The expected meeting comes amid growing attention to the commission’s handling of disputes arising from the publication of candidates’ particulars for the 2027 elections.

The source attributed the possible delay in considering the petitions to the ongoing zonal tour by INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, ahead of the 2027 general elections saying the chairman is expected to be in Gombe State this week as part of the tour, a development that could affect the timing of the commission’s next meeting.

Efforts to obtain official confirmation from the commission were unsuccessful as of press time as the Deputy Director of Publicity, Wilfred Osilama Ifogah, could not be reached through his direct telephone line and did not respond to a WhatsApp message sent to him.

Similarly, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, said she had only just resumed official duties and did not yet have information on the petitions and could not confirm the number of petitions received or when the commission would consider them.

Candidates confirm petitions

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State confirmed it has submitted a petition over the omission of its governorship candidate, Prof Pantami, from the INEC list for the 2027 elections.

The party said it is awaiting INEC’s response to its earlier complaint over Pantami’s exclusion, despite the expiration of the deadline given to the commission to address the matter.

The PDP’s Public Relations Officer in Gombe State, Abdulkadir Ahmed Dukku, told Daily Trust that the party had yet to file a fresh petition, insisting that it would first wait for the commission to respond to the complaint already submitted.

He said the party remains hopeful that INEC would upload Pantami’s name to the list of governorship candidates, adding that the PDP would determine its next move based on the commission’s decision.

According to Dukku, the expiration of the deadline would not immediately prompt the party to take further action, as it was still expecting INEC to address its complaint.

The State Chairman of Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Benue State, Idoko Itodo, said that party has done the needful as he expressed optimism that the omission of the party’s candidate, Sabestine Hon on INEC final list might be ‘an error’ which would be corrected.

Itodo who spoke to our correspondent in Makurdi on Sunday, explained that the name was in the first list released by INEC as he dismissed the insinuations that the party’s guber candidate may not be part of the forthcoming election.

“We have written to INEC. We have done the needful,” he said.

Nasarawa State Chairman of the PDP, Joel Daniel Gimba, confirmed that the party has petitioned INEC over the omission of the name of the member representing Lafia North in the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Esson Mairiga, from its final list of candidates.

Gimba described the omission as an error on the part of INEC, noting that the Certified True Copy, CTC, obtained from the commission on September 20th contained Mairiga’s name.

By Musa Luka Musa, Abuja; Rabilu Abubakar, Gombe; Abubakar Abdullahi, Lafia; Promise Adagba, Akure; Hope Abah, Makurdi