INEC clears Pantami and Gwarzo for 2027 elections
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Leadership
Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission has cleared the candidacies of Isa Ali Pantami and Abdulsalam Gwarzo for the 2027 elections, subject to pending legal proceedings. It also rejected Ladi Adebutu’s appeal and ruled on 69 party petitions, according to a source cited by Leadership.
Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has cleared the candidacies of Isa Ali Pantami, a former minister of Communications and Digital Economy, and Abdulsalam Gwarzo, the Nigeria Democratic Congress candidate for governor of Kano State, a commission source said on Thursday. The clearances remain subject to the outcome of pending legal proceedings.
INEC received 69 appeals from political parties concerning candidates absent from the lists for the governorship and state assembly elections. About 36 appeals were successful, while the others were rejected, according to the same source. The commission, however, refused a request for a review submitted by Ladi Adebutu, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate for governor of Ogun State.
The contested candidacies had been excluded because of an alleged failure to comply with provisions of the 2026 Electoral Act concerning the submission of parties’ membership registers. INEC had reviewed the candidacies excluded for 2027 before announcing these new decisions.
The announcements come as the House of Representatives asks INEC for an assessment of its preparations for the 2027 elections, while the government has denied any postponement of the presidential election scheduled for 16 January.
