Nigeria’s INEC to reconsider omitted 2027 candidates
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Punch
Nigeria’s electoral commission INEC is to reconsider the candidacies of governorship hopefuls omitted from its final list for the 6 February 2027 elections, including Isa Pantami and Ladi Adebutu. National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna said the commission would take up the matter at its Thursday meeting, following protests and appeals by the candidates concerned, Punch reports.
Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is due to reconsider on Thursday the fate of candidates for the governorship elections on 6 February 2027 whose names were omitted from its final list. INEC National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna announced the meeting to Punch on Wednesday, 28 October.
The candidates concerned include Isa Pantami, former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, standing in Gombe State, and Ladi Adebutu, the People’s Democratic Party candidate in Ogun State. The list published on 10 October also excluded Aminu Gwarzo, the Nigerian Democratic Congress candidate in Kano State, and Danjuma Laah, a candidate in Kaduna State. Candidates from four parties in Bauchi State are also affected. The omissions have prompted protests and legal action by the candidates and their parties.
INEC attributed the exclusions to the failure of the parties concerned to submit their membership registers within the legal deadline. On 24 September 2026, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of provisions in the 2026 Electoral Act requiring the registers to be submitted before primaries, congresses and conventions. INEC’s timetable set the period for submitting the registers from 21 April to 10 May 2026.
Thursday’s meeting is expected to allow the commission to deliberate on the contested candidacies, as the parties concerned call for their candidates to be reinstated. INEC had said that parties which failed to meet the requirement could not field candidates.
