INEC clears 41 candidacies and rejects 28 in Nigeria
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Vanguard
Nigeria’s electoral commission upheld 41 of 69 petitions challenging the final list of candidates for governorship posts in the 2027 general elections and rejected 28. The petitions, filed by 12 parties in 26 states, concerned omissions and multiple nominations, among other issues, according to commission official Mohammed Kudu Haruna.
Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) upheld 41 of the 69 petitions filed against the final list of candidates for the 2027 governorship elections and rejected 28. Mohammed Kudu Haruna, chairman of INEC’s committee on information and voter education, announced the decisions in a statement on Thursday evening, according to Vanguard.
The petitions came from 12 political parties in 26 states. They concerned, among other issues, the omission of parties, the listing of candidates absent from the membership registers submitted by their parties and alleged cases of multiple nominations. After examining the complaints, documents and applicable rules, INEC also said it had added the candidates and parties concerned, removed names published in error and rejected nominations deemed non-compliant.
The commission did not name the candidates concerned in its statement. However, a source cited by Vanguard had indicated that former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and Abdulsalam Gwarzo, the Nigeria Democratic Congress candidate for governor of Kano State, had been cleared to contest, subject to ongoing court cases. According to the same source, a petition by Ladi Adebutu, the People’s Democratic Party candidate for governor of Ogun State, was unsuccessful.
The decision follows INEC’s review of rejected candidacies on 28 October, followed by the reported clearance of Pantami and Gwarzo on 29 October. The electoral body had also published the preliminary voters’ register online on 26 October as part of preparations for the 2027 Nigerian elections.
