Political parties and governorship candidates whose names were missing from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) final list for the 2027 elections are challenging their exclusion and demanding corrections. The commission has confirmed receiving formal complaints from some political parties and said the submissions are being reviewed for appropriate action. The dispute follows the publication of the final list of candidates for next year’s elections, with affected politicians considering legal action if their complaints are unsuccessful. Among those who have raised concerns are Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Kano State, Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in Gombe State, Isa Ali Pantami; Ogun State PDP aspirant Ladi Adebutu; and NDC governorship candidate in Kaduna State, Danjuma La’ah.

INEC has given affected political parties until October 24, 2026, to formally notify it of candidates they believe were wrongly excluded. Adedayo Oketola, Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser to the commission’s chairman, said the complaints were being examined in accordance with the law. “Yes, the commission has received formal complaints from some political parties regarding the non-inclusion of certain candidates, and these submissions are currently being carefully reviewed,” Oketola said. He explained that Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026, gives political parties 14 days from the publication of the list to notify the commission of alleged omissions. He added that INEC would consider the complaints alongside applicable legal provisions and valid court orders, while maintaining procedural fairness and transparency.

An official of the commission said submitting a petition would not automatically lead to the inclusion of a candidate’s name on the list. According to the source, INEC would assess each complaint based on the Electoral Act and a recent Supreme Court judgment. The official said candidates whose names were absent from the membership lists submitted by their parties 21 days before their primaries might not qualify for inclusion. The source also alleged that some candidates seeking corrections had moved to new political parties after losing primaries in their former parties. Meanwhile, some aggrieved candidates are considering approaching the courts to compel INEC to include their names, although the commission has not disclosed the total number of complaints received.

In Kano State, hundreds of Kwankwasiyya Movement supporters on Friday stormed the INEC state office to protest the exclusion of Gwarzo from the governorship candidates’ list. Led by the NDC deputy governorship candidate, Mustapha Kwankwaso, the protesters submitted a petition demanding Gwarzo’s reinstatement and an investigation into alleged irregularities. They accused an INEC official of colluding with unauthorised individuals to facilitate the substitution of candidates using documents bearing suspected forged signatures. The group’s spokesman, Dr Habib Mohammed, said several letters containing suspected forged signatures had been submitted to the commission. “We are also petitioning against a staff here, whom we believe colluded with some unauthorized people to hide a decision which led to substitution of some of our candidates,” Mohammed said. The State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Abdu Zango, received the petition and assured the delegation that it would be forwarded to INEC’s national headquarters. “We received all the complaints and assured the delegation that their petition will receive the necessary attention and we are going to forward it to our national headquarters for consideration,” Zango said.

The NDC’s national leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, also pledged that the party would continue challenging the exclusion of some of its candidates. Dickson said the party had taken steps to address the cases and maintained that all affected candidates had registered before the statutory 21-day deadline. He urged INEC to “remedy this apparent omission promptly”, adding that the party believed the commission would correct the situation. Dickson also directed members to continue consultations, town hall meetings, mobilisation and campaigns across states and constituencies ahead of the elections. In Ogun State, PDP governorship aspirant Toba Olusegun Peter gave INEC 48 hours to explain why his name was missing from the final list for the February 6, 2027 election. In a letter dated October 14, 2026, his lawyer, Anderson Asemota, said Peter had obtained the required forms on May 12, 2026, participated in the party’s governorship primary on May 27 and appeared as entry number 15783 on the PDP membership register submitted to INEC. The lawyer asked the commission to verify the records and explain the legal basis for the exclusion, warning that his client could go to court if the matter was not resolved.

The dispute has also affected political parties in Ebonyi and Anambra states, where disagreements over candidate lists and party leadership have intensified. In Ebonyi, African Democratic Congress (ADC) factional chairman Jennifer Adibe said candidates submitted by her faction were omitted from INEC’s list and had gone to court. A source from the rival faction said the recognised list came from primaries conducted by the group led by Silas Onu, whose name appeared on INEC’s final list as the party’s candidate. The source also claimed that candidates from Adibe’s faction had filed at least 30 court cases. Within the PDP, questions remained over the party’s candidate for the Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo Federal Constituency after former Ebonyi Commissioner for Project Monitoring Felix Igboke’s name was omitted. In Anambra, David Chukwudifu and former state lawmaker Ikem Uzoezie both claimed leadership of the NDC state chapter, although Uzoezie said the national leadership was handling issues surrounding names omitted from the list.

In Oyo State, the publication of the final governorship candidates’ list has reportedly triggered tension, realignments and discussions among political parties and aspirants who lost their primaries. The report said some party figures held meetings in Ibadan to address dissatisfaction among grassroots supporters and prevent possible anti-party activities. It also reported that the APC leadership had deployed reconciliation committees across the state’s three senatorial districts to bring dissatisfied factions together. Smaller political parties and emerging coalitions were also said to be working to reassure supporters about their participation in the elections. Across the affected states, the central issue remains whether INEC will accept the complaints and make corrections before the October 24 deadline, or whether the disputes will proceed to court.