By Stephen Simon
Several opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and Action Democratic Party (ADP), have confirmed meeting the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) October 24 deadline to correct omissions in its published lists of candidates for the 2027 elections.
The PDP’s National Organising Secretary, Captain Umar Bature (retd.), told Vanguard that the party completed the required corrections before the deadline.
“Yes, we met the deadline since,” he said.
The PDP candidates affected by the omissions include its governorship hopefuls in Ogun and Gombe states, Oladipupo Adebutu and Professor Isa Pantami, respectively, as well as several House of Assembly candidates.
The NDC also confirmed compliance, with its National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, telling Vanguard, “Yes, we did.”
Similarly, ADP National Chairman, Yabagi Yusuf Sani, confirmed that his party had met the commission’s deadline.
Labour Party National Publicity Secretary, Ken Asogwa, said the party remained in good standing with INEC regarding the correction of names and replacement of candidates.
“The Labour Party is in good standing with INEC, including on matters relating to the correction of names and replacement of candidates,” he said.
Other parties affected by the omissions include the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC).
However, questions remain over the status of some candidates whose names were missing from INEC’s published list, despite assurances from the parties that they had complied with the commission’s directive.
Those affected include John Upan of the NDC and Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo of the ADC in Cross River State.
The resolution of the omissions is crucial to clarifying the status of candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Toyo told Vanguard that she had completed the required steps before the deadline but was still awaiting an official response from INEC.
“They gave us the deadline of October 24, which was Saturday, and I had done all that they asked for, but they have not brought out any information. Let’s wait for them,” she said.
INEC’s Head of Voter Education in Cross River State, Osaro Aisen, said the matter was being handled at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja and involved legal considerations.
“The whole thing is handled from Abuja and it is a legal matter. Let’s see what will come forth tomorrow (Monday),” Aisen said, adding that he could not provide a definite answer at the time.
INEC had earlier explained that the omissions followed a Supreme Court judgment concerning statutory requirements for political parties’ membership registers. The commission gave affected parties until October 24 to notify it of candidates they believed had been wrongly excluded.
The affected parties’ claims of compliance do not, by themselves, establish that the omitted candidates have been reinstated. Their status depends on INEC’s clarification and any applicable legal decisions.
