The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed some candidates from its final list for the 2027 general elections following a review of complaints submitted by political parties, while approving the inclusion of candidates whose petitions were found to have merit.
The commission upheld 41 of the 69 petitions challenging the final list of governorship candidates and rejected the remaining 28 after examining complaints submitted by 12 political parties across 26 states.
INEC also reviewed 61 petitions relating to State House of Assembly candidates from 11 political parties across 11 states. Twenty-five of the petitions were successful, while 36 were rejected.
The commission’s decisions were announced on Thursday night by its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna.
According to INEC, the complaints involved the omission of political parties and their candidates, the inclusion of candidates whose names were absent from membership registers submitted by their parties, and cases of alleged multiple nominations.
After examining the complaints, relevant records and applicable legal provisions, the commission approved the inclusion of affected candidates and political parties whose petitions were successful.
However, INEC also confirmed that some candidates previously included in its final list had been removed after verification established that their names were missing from the membership registers submitted by their political parties.
The commission further ordered the removal of candidates whose nominations were inconsistent with applicable electoral requirements.
Although INEC confirmed the removals, it did not individually identify the affected candidates, their political parties or the specific offices they were seeking in its announcement.
Among the prominent politicians previously affected by the controversy was former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Pantami, who is seeking the Gombe State governorship under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Pantami’s name was initially missing from INEC’s final list despite emerging as the PDP governorship candidate following a fresh primary election conducted on September 29, after a court order nullified the party’s earlier primary exercise.
However, following its October 29 review, an INEC source confirmed that the commission had cleared Pantami to participate in the 2027 governorship election, subject to the outcome of pending court proceedings.
Another beneficiary of the review was Abdulsalam Aminu Gwarzo, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Kano State.
Gwarzo and his running mate, Rabiu Mustapha, had challenged their exclusion from the final list, with the candidate approaching the court to seek recognition of their joint ticket.
INEC subsequently cleared Gwarzo, although the commission maintained that the final status of his candidacy would depend on the outcome of the ongoing legal proceedings.
The commission, however, rejected the petition submitted by the PDP governorship candidate in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, who sought the restoration of his name to the final list.
Adebutu had challenged his exclusion, insisting that he remained a registered member of the PDP and had fulfilled the necessary requirements for his nomination. His request for reconsideration was unsuccessful.
Other governorship candidates whose earlier exclusion from the published list generated controversy included Senator Danjuma Laah of the NDC in Kaduna State, Sebastine Hon of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Benue State and Mogaji Olusegun Agboola of the SDP in Oyo State.
The NDC had also protested the omission of five of its governorship candidates and their running mates from the published list.
They included Abdulsalam Aminu Gwarzo and Rabiu Mustapha in Kano State; Odey John Upan and Stella Charles Archibong in Cross River State; Laah Danfuma Tella and Sani Bashir in Kaduna State; Muktar Faruk Alhaji and Ayuba Shamsudeen in Kebbi State; and Odusina Bolaji Marie and Adeyemi Yunus Adesina in Ogun State.
The party subsequently submitted a formal complaint to INEC, requesting the inclusion of the affected candidates and their running mates.
In Bauchi State, the omission of several governorship candidates also attracted attention. They included Abdullahi Yakubu of the SDP, Musa Zubairu of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Ahmed Shuaibu of the Action Alliance (AA) and Mohammed Aminu of the Accord Party.
Their exclusion formed part of the wider dispute over compliance with the electoral requirements governing political party membership registers and candidate nominations.
INEC’s decision to exclude some candidates was largely connected to Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act 2026, which require political parties to submit their membership registers to the commission within the stipulated period.
The commission relied on a September 24, 2026, Supreme Court judgment in the case involving INEC and the Zenith Labour Party, which upheld the constitutionality of the provisions.
The judgment also affirmed INEC’s timetable requiring political parties to submit their membership registers between April 21 and May 10, 2026.
According to the commission, parties that failed to comply with the requirements were ineligible to sponsor candidates in the affected elections.
The latest review was therefore aimed at addressing complaints from political parties and candidates who believed they had been wrongly excluded, while also correcting entries involving candidates whose nominations did not satisfy the legal requirements.
INEC said the affected candidates, political parties and states would be reflected in updated lists to be published on its official website.
The commission reaffirmed its commitment to transparency, adherence to electoral laws and the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
With the review concluded, attention is now turning to the updated candidates’ lists and the outstanding court cases involving some of the affected politicians.
However, the individual identities of candidates removed during the latest review remain to be established from the updated official lists, as INEC’s announcement did not provide a name-by-name breakdown of the removals.
