KEY POINTS
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INEC received 130 petitions from political parties.
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It approved 66 petitions and rejected 64.
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Pantami and Gwarzo were cleared, while Adebutu remained excluded.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has removed some candidates previously listed for the 2027 governorship and state House of Assembly elections after reviewing complaints submitted by political parties.
The commission also approved the inclusion of candidates and political parties whose earlier omission it found to be unjustified.
In a statement issued by Mohammed Haruna, Chairman of INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, the commission said the decisions followed a review of petitions, relevant records and applicable electoral laws.
The affected candidates and political parties will be reflected in an updated list on the commission’s website.
Commission reviews 130 petitions
INEC disclosed that it received 69 petitions from 12 political parties across 26 states concerning governorship candidates.
Of the petitions, 41 were successful, while 28 were rejected.
For State Houses of Assembly elections, the commission received 61 petitions from 11 political parties across 11 states. It approved 25 of the complaints and rejected 36.
The petitions raised concerns about the omission of political parties, the inclusion of candidates whose names were allegedly absent from their parties’ membership registers and cases of multiple nominations.
INEC said it approved the inclusion of candidates and parties where complaints were found to have merit. It also removed names that had been wrongly published after confirming that the affected candidates were not listed in the membership registers submitted by their parties.
The commission added that some state assembly candidates were removed because their nominations did not satisfy the applicable legal requirements.
Pantami and Gwarzo cleared, Adebutu excluded
The review followed questions raised after INEC published its final list of governorship and state assembly candidates on October 10, 2026.
The omission of Isa Ali Pantami, former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in Gombe State, attracted attention.
Ladi Adebutu, the PDP governorship candidate in Ogun State, and Abdulsalam Gwarzo, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate in Kano State, were also initially absent from the list.
INEC had earlier explained that some candidates were excluded because their political parties failed to submit membership registers as required by law.
However, sources cited by Daily Trust said Pantami and Gwarzo were subsequently cleared to contest, subject to the outcome of pending court cases. Adebutu, on the other hand, was not cleared.
The commission’s latest statement confirmed that some candidates had been added, while others previously published had been removed. It did not provide the full list of affected candidates in the statement.
Supreme Court ruling informs INEC’s decision
The commission said its review was guided by a September 24, 2026, Supreme Court judgement affirming the constitutionality of Section 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026.
The provisions require political parties to submit their membership registers to INEC.
The commission said it applied the judgement while preparing the candidates’ list, in line with Section 287(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which requires authorities to comply with decisions of superior courts.
INEC had earlier asked political parties that believed their candidates were wrongly excluded to submit complaints under Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act. The deadline for submitting such complaints was October 24, 2026.
The commission said the review process was intended to ensure that candidates appearing on the final lists met the legal requirements for nomination.
INEC pledges transparency
Haruna said the commission remained committed to transparency and the credibility of the electoral process.
He explained that the updated list would contain the names of candidates and political parties affected by the review, alongside the states concerned.
The latest decision changes the list published earlier in October and provides further clarification on the eligibility of candidates ahead of the 2027 elections.
