Disqualified candidates and their parties are putting up a fight following last week’s publication of the final list of contestants for next year’s elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The parties and the affected candidates have already flooded INEC with petitions and demands for restitution.

The commission confirmed yesterday that it has commenced work on the complaints.

It said the complaints are currently being processed by its officials for appropriate action.

The development notwithstanding , hundreds of Kwankwasiyya Movement supporters in Kano yesterday stormed the Kano State office of INEC to protest the exclusion of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate, Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo from the list.

Reports from the states yesterday indicated that some party supporters are already weighing their options in the event that the outcome of the INEC review of the complaints does not favour their candidates.

The commission did not mention the names of the candidates whose complaints it has formally received and already reviewing.

But it is public knowledge that Gwarzo,the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), governorship candidate in Gombe, State Isa Ali Pantami,his Ogun State counterpart, Ladi Adebutu,and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Kaduna State, Danjuma La’ah, have confirmed the omission of their names from the list, and called for restitution by INEC.

Consequently, the commission gave the affected political parties until October 24 to notify it of the alleged errors.

The commission said the deadline was in line with Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which provides a 14-day window for political parties to notify it if they believe their candidates were wrongly excluded from the list.

Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser to the Chairman of the Commission, Adedayo Oketola told The Nation that the commission is a law abiding agency with responsibility to manage thousands of nominations across the country.

“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.

Continuing, he said:“As an election management body responsible for managing thousands of nominations across political parties, receiving complaints, petitions, and legal notifications is a routine administrative occurrence.

“Under Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties that believe their candidates were omitted or excluded have a statutory window of 14 days from the date of publication to formally notify the commission.

“Following the publication of the governorship list, affected parties have until October 24, 2026, to present their formal notifications. The commission remains strictly guided by the provisions of the Electoral Act, valid judicial orders, and its commitment to legal compliance, procedural fairness, and transparency.”

It was not immediately clear yesterday the number of complaints already received by the commission.

It was gathered that some aggrieved candidates are contemplating approaching the courts to compel INEC to put their names on the list.

A highly placed official of the commission told The Nation that the filing of complaints or petitions by any party or candidate does not automatically translate into including such names.

The source said :“Yes, the commission has received some petitions and some may still come in. But the commission will treat each petition on its merit and in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act and the recent Supreme Court judgement.

“Anybody whose name did not appear on the membership list submitted to the commission, 21 days before the party primary will still not be included on the list. Law is law. People cannot just break the law at will and expect the same law to protect them.

“You are aware that some of these candidates complaining went shopping for new parties to contest elections after losing party primaries in their previous parties. The consideration by the commission may also include those whose names are already published, but whose names were absent from the list submitted by their parties’ 21 days before the primaries.”

Kwankwasiyya members storm INEC office, protest over Gwarzo’s exclusion

The protesters, who were led by the NDC deputy governorship candidate, Mustapha Kwankwaso, submitted a petition demanding Gwarzo’s reinstatement and an investigation into the alleged irregularities.

They accused an INEC official of allegedly colluding with unauthorised individuals to facilitate the substitution of some candidates through documents bearing suspected forged signatures.

Spokesman for the group, Dr Habib Mohammed,told reporters that several letters containing suspected forged signatures had been submitted to the electoral 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, who received the petition assured the protesters that their grievances would be forwarded to INEC’s national headquarters for consideration.

“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 electoral commissioner reaffirmed INEC’s commitment to neutrality in the electoral process.

NDC ‘working diligently’ over missing names, says Dickson

National leader of the NDC, Senator Seriake Dickson yesterday vowed that the party would continue to “fight without giving up” over the non-inclusion of the names of some of the party’s candidates in the INEC list released last week.

Dickson,in a statement, assured the affected candidates and supporters that the party has been “working diligently and has taken adequate steps to address the cases of those whose names were not published by INEC.”

He said: “All affected candidates registered with the party before the statutory 21-day period required by law.”

He urged the commission to “ remedy this apparent omission promptly.”

“From the Presidential election to the State Houses of Assembly, the NDC has fielded qualified candidates who emerged through a rigorous and painstaking screening process. We are confident that INEC will correct this omission without delay,” he added.

He directed party members to continue “ consultations, town hall meetings, mobilisation, and campaigns” in all states and constituencies ahead of the elections.

PDP Ogun aspirant gives INEC 48 hours to publish name

A PDP governorship aspirant in Ogun State, Toba Olusegun Peter, has given INEC 48 hours to explain the omission of his name from the final list of candidates for the 6 February 2027 election.

Peter wants his name published immediately as the party’s duly nominated candidate, failing which he threatened to go to court.

His lawyer , Anderson Asemota, in an October 14,2026 letter to the INEC chairman, said that his client had fulfilled the nomination requirements and deserved an explanation for his exclusion.

According to the lawyer, Peter obtained the expression-of-interest and nomination forms on 12 May 2026, participated in the party’s governorship primary on 27 May, with his name appearing as entry number 15783 on the PDP membership register submitted to INEC in compliance with Section 77 of the Electoral Act, 2026.

The lawyer acknowledged the Supreme Court’s judgment in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party, with suit number SC/CV/495/2026, but maintained that the decision should be applied to the specific facts and records relating to his client.

“Our Client does not invite the Commission to disregard that decision. Rather, the Commission is requested to apply the provisions as authoritatively interpreted by the Supreme Court to the actual facts and records relating to the PDP and our Client,” the letter stated.

Asemota asked INEC to establish whether Peter’s name appeared on the membership register submitted by the PDP, whether the applicable statutory requirements had been met and whether any court order or other lawful basis existed for excluding him.

Related News

He demanded that the commission complete the verification within 48 hours of receiving the letter and provide a written explanation of its findings.

Mr. Ladi Adebutu whose name was not in the INEC list had earlier protested the development and petitioned INEC for restitution.

Our supporters, guber candidate has nothing to fear – Ogun PDP

The PDP leadership in the state which aligns with Adebutu has said its supporters and the guber candidate has nothing to fear for now.

Ogun PDP said the party and its candidate are still carrying on with their normal activities including the ward to ward campaigns.

Speaking with The Nation, the Head of Public Communications, Ladi Adebutu Campaign Organization, Afolabi Orekoya stated that Adebutu has not done anything against the provision of the law.

He said, “We are managing the situation well, as you already know, the national leadership of the party are currently on it and we believe that it will be resolved soon.”

Ripples in Ebonyi ADC, PDP over INEC’s final list of candidates

There are ripples in the Ebonyi State chapters of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the omission of some candidates’ names from the final list of candidates released by INEC.

Factional chairman of the ADC in the state, Jennifer Adibe, told The Nation that the names of candidates submitted by her faction were omitted from the list.

She, however, said the affected candidates have gone to court on the matter.

But a source in the rival faction dismissed Adibe’s claims.

The source said the authentic list of candidates emerged from the primaries conducted by the faction led by Silas Onu.

Onu himself was listed by INEC as the party’s authentic candidate in the final list.

The source said aggrieved candidates who emerged from the Adibe-led faction’s primaries have instituted at least 30 court cases against the party demanding to be recognized as such.

“But they filed the cases out of time, and right now, the court has not even given us a date. You can imagine filing such matters in September for a primary that took place in May,” the source said.

In the PDP, confusion persists over the authentic candidate of the party for the Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo Federal Constituency.

A former Ebonyi Commissioner for Project Monitoring, Felix Igboke, resigned from Governor Francis Nwifuru’s administration and joined the PDP.

He was reportedly given the party’s ticket for the election, but his name was omitted from INEC’s final list, a development that has thrown the party and the constituency into confusion.

However, a source told The Nation that following INEC’s statement urging political parties to submit the names of omitted candidates for correction, Igboke’s name would soon be uploaded as the authentic candidate.

“There is no cause for concern. It will soon be corrected,” the source said.

Two factional chairmen battle for control of NDC in Anambra

All is not well in the Anambra State chapter of the NDC with two men laying claim to the leadership of the chapter.

Anambra is the home state of the party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi.

Mr. David Chukwudifu who leads one of the factions said yesterday that he is the authentic state chairman.

He said the other group led by a former state lawmaker, Ikem Uzoezie joined the party after the conclusion of its congresses.

He dismissed them as jokers.

But he admitted that the national leadership of the NDC has stepped in to resolve the issue.

Hon Ikem Uzoezie, told The Nation that there were problems with some names sent to INEC from the various states.

He, however, said the issues were being handled at the national level.

“There are some names the party submitted that were not reflected.

“But the party has already written back to INEC to that effect for necessary corrections to be made.

“All these correspondences are being handled at the national level,” Uzoezie said.

INEC list triggers panic, realignment in Oyo

The release of the final list of governorship candidates in Oyo State has sent shockwaves across the political landscape of the state.

For some political gladiators, seeing their names affixed to the official roster was a moment of triumph, while for others, the list brought raw panic, unexpected betrayals, and the harsh reality of finalized tickets.

Within the ruling Allied Peoples Movement (APM), the confirmation of their candidate brought a mixture of relief and intense internal anxiety. While party leaders publicly declared unity and boasted of continuing current development projects, whispers of dissatisfaction among aggrieved aspirants who lost out during the primaries continue to grow louder.

Key party figures spent the aftermath of the publication holding emergency nocturnal meetings in Ibadan, attempting to appease influential grassroots leaders who threatened passive resistance or covert anti-party activities ahead of the polls.

On its part, the party found itself navigating its own turbulent waters following the official clearance of its candidate.

Despite the initial excitement among party loyalists, fears persist over unresolved court cases and persistent factional divides that could undermine their united front against the ruling party.

To manage the growing panic among supporters who worry about a repeat of past internal rancours, the APC leadership has deployed reconciliation committees across the state’s three senatorial districts to pull dissatisfied factions back into the fold.

The smaller third-force parties and emerging coalitions have not been immune to the tremors, as the final list either validated their dark-horse ambitions or exposed major structural flaws.

Candidates of these lesser-known platforms have faced intense skepticism from voters who doubt their financial muscle and operational reach compared to the two political giants. In response, these candidates have taken directly to social media and localized town hall meetings, reassuring nervous supporters that the official stamp from the electoral umpire gives them the legitimate platform needed to deliver a surprise victory.

Among the general populace and party foot-soldiers, a palpable sense of anxiety dominates everyday conversations among the residents. (Guardian)