The Independent National Electoral Commission has dismissed claims by the Nigeria Democratic Congress that it removed the party’s nominated candidates for the 2027 general elections and published other names the party says it did not know.
The denial came from INEC’s Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Adedayo Oketola, in a conversation with Zoyols News. The dispute centres on some State House of Assembly constituencies in Anambra State.
The NDC had alleged on X that INEC and its officials uploaded and published unauthorised names in certain Anambra constituencies. The party said nine names it did not authorise and did not submit were listed as its candidates for seats in the Anambra State House of Assembly.
NDC National Chairman Moses Zuwoghe described the situation as especially troubling because Anambra is the home state of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Oketola rejected the charge, stressing that INEC has no legal power to nominate candidates for any political party or to swap in names of its own in place of those a party validly put forward under the law.
He said INEC does not nominate candidates for political parties. Nomination, he added, rests with the parties, provided they comply with the Constitution, the Electoral Act 2026 and other applicable laws, regulations and guidelines.
Parties, he explained, nominate and submit their candidates. INEC’s duty is to run the electoral process in line with the Constitution, the Electoral Act and the relevant regulations and guidelines.
