The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released an updated list of candidates for the 2027 general elections, featuring former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, and former Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Iyabo Obasanjo.
The revised list, published on Saturday, October 31, covers candidates for the presidential, National Assembly, governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.
Omo-Agege, who is contesting on the platform of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), appears as the party’s senatorial candidate for Delta Central, while Iyabo Obasanjo is listed as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Ogun Central.
Their inclusion comes amid questions over the possible implications of the Supreme Court judgment on Section 77 of the Electoral Act, particularly for politicians who changed political parties after participating in nomination processes.
However, the updated list shows that some candidates remain affected by pending legal disputes.
In Kano State, the NDC’s governorship slot was left vacant, with INEC indicating that the status of its candidate, Abdulsalam Gwarzo, would depend on the outcome of an ongoing court case. Similarly, the PDP governorship candidate in Ogun State, Adebutu, was absent from the list.
The Accord Party also had no candidate listed for the presidential election, despite an earlier Federal High Court ruling directing INEC to recognise Olawepo Hashim. The party has appealed the judgment, maintaining that Hashim failed to meet the prescribed deadline for obtaining nomination forms.
In Kaduna State, INEC listed Mohammed Sani Abbas as the NDC governorship candidate, replacing Danjuma La’ah, whose name had appeared during the claims and objections exercise.
The updated register also introduced 20 additional governorship candidates across several states. Some states received one or two new entries, while Gombe and Kano recorded three additional entries each, including the vacant NDC slot in Kano.
The number of political parties contesting the governorship election in Abia State also dropped from 15 to 14.
A breakdown of the list shows that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) have candidates in all 28 states where governorship elections will take place. The PDP and NDC have candidates in 26 states each.
The PDP has no governorship candidates in Kebbi and Ogun, while the NDC is absent from the governorship contests in Abia and Ogun. Ndubuisi Ogah, previously listed as the NDC candidate in Abia, was also removed.
Among the newly added NDC governorship candidates are John Odey Upan in Cross River, Shammah Danladi Dodo in Nasarawa and Muktar Farouk Alhaji in Kebbi.
Meanwhile, INEC included former House of Representatives Minority Whip, Ali Isa JC, on the APC list for Balanga/Biliri Federal Constituency in Gombe State, despite a Federal High Court judgment nullifying his nomination and barring him from participating in another primary election.
The commission clarified that candidates whose names appeared on the list published before the Supreme Court judgment were not affected by the latest adjustments.
INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, said the commission received 69 governorship-related petitions from 12 political parties across 26 states.
Of the petitions, 41 were successful, while 28 were unsuccessful.
For the State Houses of Assembly, INEC received 61 petitions from 11 political parties across 11 states. Twenty-five succeeded, while 36 were rejected.
Haruna explained that the updated list reflected the outcome of the petitions and other decisions arising from the review process.
Source: The Nation