The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has given political parties until October 24, 2026 to challenge the omission of their candidates from the final list for the 2027 governorship elections. The commission says it left out parties that failed to submit membership registers, applying a Supreme Court judgment that made the requirement binding. The decision has removed some of the most prominent opposition candidates from the February 6, 2027 ballot, at least for now.
National Commissioner and Chairman of INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, explained the position in a statement issued early on Tuesday. He said the commission acted under Section 287(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which obliges all authorities to enforce the decisions of the Supreme Court. According to the statement, failure to comply with the register provisions “renders the defaulting political parties ineligible to sponsor any candidate for the election.”
The dispute traces back to subsections (5) to (7) of Section 77 of the Electoral Act, 2026. The provisions require a party to submit its membership register to INEC at least 21 days before its primaries, and only members on that register can vote or be voted for. The Court of Appeal struck the provisions down in July, prompting INEC to appeal. On September 24, a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court unanimously restored them in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party, holding that they “are constitutional and mandatory for all political parties.”
The apex court also upheld Item No. 2 of INEC’s timetable, which fixed April 21 to May 10, 2026 as the window for submitting registers. The judgment, however, noted that the law does not disqualify any individual personally. Its effect is to stop a party from fielding anyone whose name was not on the register it submitted.
Timing explains why only governorship candidates are affected. INEC said the final list of presidential and National Assembly candidates had been published on September 12, before the judgment was delivered. INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, said on October 6 that the commission had just received the certified true copy of the judgment and was reviewing it. On October 9, the All Progressives Congress (APC) wrote to INEC asking it to enforce the ruling and check every party’s compliance, a call echoed by the House of Representatives committee on electoral matters.
The governorship and state assembly lists came out the following day, Saturday, October 10. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has no candidate on the Gombe list of 16 or the Ogun list of 13. Its candidates, former Communications and Digital Economy Minister Isa Ali Pantami and Ladi Adebutu, are among the best known names affected. Pantami joined the PDP on May 19, after the register window had closed, and emerged from a fresh party primary on September 29.
The omissions cut across several parties. In Kano, where 17 candidates made the list, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Aminu Abdulsalam Gwarzo, and his running mate, Mustapha Rabiu Kwankwaso, were left out. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) and NDC candidates were missing from the Cross River list of eight. In Benue, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Sebastine Hon (SAN), was also omitted, while the SDP, NNPP, Action Alliance and Accord candidates were excluded in Bauchi.
INEC has not published a full tally of excluded candidates or stated in each case whether a party filed no register at all or left particular names off a submitted one. That gap has fuelled competing explanations. NDC officials in Kano and Cross River described their omissions as data entry or bureaucratic errors, insisting their candidates were properly registered. The SDP has gone to court, the PDP says it has begun engaging the commission, and Pantami issued INEC a three-day ultimatum over what he called an unlawful omission.
Opposition parties have accused the commission of bias, a charge INEC rejects. In its statement, the commission said it remains committed to “transparency, the rule of law and the credibility of the electoral process.” It has also asked affected parties to file formal complaints rather than rely on public protests.
The next step is set out in Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026. A party that believes its candidate was wrongly omitted has 14 days from publication to notify INEC in writing, supported by an affidavit, which brings the deadline to October 24. Parties that can show their registers were submitted on time may yet have their candidates restored. Those that cannot will have to turn to the courts, with less than four months left before the governorship elections.