The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that political parties have utilised the three-day extension granted by the commission to upload names of their governorship and state assembly candidates.

An official of INEC who spoke with our correspondent said the parties had used the additional window since they were the ones who requested the extension.

“It’s obvious. They asked for it and we gave it to them. So obviously, they must have used it,” he said.

Our correspondents report that parties contesting in the elections have uploaded the names of their candidates on the portal. They include the All Progressives Congress (APC) the African Democratic Congress (ADC) the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Peoples Redemption Party (PRP); New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and others.

National Chairman of the APC, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe, announced over the weekend that his party has complied fully with the upload while founder of the NNPP, Dr Boniface Aniebonam, has also stated that the party was able to field candidates for over 90 per cent of all elective positions.

The latest extension represents the second time INEC has adjusted the deadline for political parties to submit candidates for the 2027 elections.

Our correspondent reports that INEC on Tuesday night closed its dedicated portal for political parties to submit the names and particulars of their governorship and State House of Assembly candidates for the 2027 general elections.

The portal closed at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, August 11, following a three-day extension granted by the commission to enable political parties complete the nomination process.

INEC had initially fixed Saturday, August 8, 2026, as the deadline for the submission of the candidates’ lists for the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.

However, the commission, in a statement issued on Sunday, approved the extension to Tuesday, August 11, following appeals from political parties for additional time to complete the upload of their candidates’ details.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, said the extension followed “growing appeals by political parties for additional time to complete the process.”

The exercise covers candidates for governorship and State Houses of Assembly seats ahead of the elections scheduled for February 2027. Under INEC’s revised timetable, political parties were required to upload their nomination forms and candidates’ particulars through the commission’s dedicated Candidate Nomination Portal.

A senior INEC official, when contacted, said the commission would not release figures on the number of political parties that had successfully submitted their governorship and State House of Assembly candidates until after the portal closes and the data is fully reconciled.

The official, who spoke to Daily Trust on condition of anonymity, said releasing figures before the deadline could result in inaccurate statistics, as parties could still make submissions in the final minutes before the portal shuts.

“We’ll give you after tomorrow. We can’t give you figures just because we’re in a rush to inform the public. We’ll give you inaccurate figures,” the official said.

He explained that the commission would need to wait until the portal had completely closed before determining the exact number of submissions, noting that there could be activity on the system even in the final minutes.

According to him, the commission would release the figures after the process had been concluded and the data properly verified.

Earlier in July, the commission extended the deadline for the submission of Presidential and National Assembly candidates by three days, from July 11 to July 14, 2026.

INEC had initially scheduled the submission of the names and particulars of Presidential and National Assembly candidates to close on Saturday, July 11, but moved the deadline to 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, July 14, following an appeal by the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) on behalf of political parties that encountered difficulties uploading candidates’ details.

The commission said the extension was intended to give all parties a fair opportunity to complete the nomination process, while urging them to take advantage of the additional window.

The completion of the candidate submission process is expected to pave the way for the next stages of the electoral timetable, including the publication of candidates’ particulars for public scrutiny.

INEC’s revised timetable provides for the publication of the personal particulars of governorship and State House of Assembly candidates later in August, ahead of the February 2027 elections. (Daily Trust)

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