Political parties are intensifying efforts to submit the nomination forms of their presidential and National Assembly candidates ahead of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s INEC July 11 deadline.
INEC fixed 6 p.m. on July 11 as the deadline for political parties to upload the nomination forms of their presidential and National Assembly candidates through its online nomination portal. The exercise, which began on June 27, involves the submission of Forms EC9 and EC9A to EC9E in accordance with Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026.
The commission also scheduled the submission of nomination forms for governorship and state Houses of Assembly candidates to commence on July 18 and end on August 8.
Under the electoral timetable, the personal particulars of presidential and National Assembly candidates will be published on August 1, while those of governorship and state Assembly candidates will be published on August 29.
Ahead of the deadline, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, named former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi as his running mate, while the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Peter Obi, picked former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso.
President Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is yet to announce his running mate, although party sources have indicated that Vice President Kashim Shettima remains the leading contender.
The INEC timetable provides until August 22 for the withdrawal and substitution of presidential and National Assembly candidates, allowing parties to replace nominees after the July 11 submission deadline.
This provision has fuelled speculation that the APC could adopt the placeholder strategy it used ahead of the 2023 general election, when Ibrahim Masari was initially submitted as vice-presidential nominee before withdrawing to pave the way for Shettima.
However, senior APC sources told The PUNCH that the party was working to submit Tinubu’s nomination alongside that of his substantive running mate before the deadline.
The sources also disclosed that the APC had uploaded the senatorial nomination forms of Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni and Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, alongside those of several National Assembly candidates.
“We have covered a lot of ground. The uploading of candidates is progressing as planned, and we are confident that the President’s nomination and that of his running mate will be uploaded before the July 11 deadline,” one party source said.
Meanwhile, both the ADC and NDC said they had completed the upload of their presidential tickets to INEC’s portal.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also said it had uploaded about 60 per cent of its National Assembly candidates.
PDP National Organising Secretary Umar Bature said the remaining entries were delayed by the late submission of documents by some candidates but expressed confidence that the exercise would be completed within the stipulated timeframe.
