The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has met the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) 24 October deadline for addressing the omission of some of its candidates from the commission’s published list ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The party’s National Organising Secretary, Captain Umar Bature (retd.), confirmed the development in a response to Vanguard, saying the corrections were completed within the stipulated period.
“Yes, we met the deadline since,” he said.
The PDP’s affected candidates include its governorship hopefuls in Ogun and Gombe states, Oladipupo Adebutu and Professor Isa Pantami, respectively, as well as seven House of Assembly candidates whose names were missing from the list published by INEC.
Other opposition parties affected by the omissions include the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Democratic Party (ADP) and Labour Party (LP).
NDC, ADP Confirm Compliance
The national leadership of the NDC also confirmed that it had met the electoral commission’s deadline for correcting the omitted candidates’ names.
When contacted by Vanguard, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, said, “Yes, we did.”
Similarly, the National Chairman of the ADP, Engineer Yabagi Yusuf Sani, confirmed that his party had complied with the deadline.
“We did. Thanks a lot,” he said.
Labour Party Says It Is in Good Standing
The National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, 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.
Asogwa added that the party was confident of a successful outing for its candidates in the forthcoming general elections.
INEC’s Clarification Awaited
Meanwhile, the status of some omitted candidates, including the NDC’s John Upan and the ADC’s Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo in Cross River State, remained unclear as of the time of the report.
Toyo told Vanguard that she had completed the necessary steps before the deadline but was still awaiting a response from the electoral commission.
“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.
The Head of Voter Education at INEC’s Cross River office, Osaro Aisen, said the matter was being handled at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
“The whole thing is handled from Abuja and it is a legal matter. Let’s see what will come forth tomorrow (Monday). I cannot give you a categorical answer now till tomorrow,” he said.
INEC had given affected political parties until 24 October to notify it of candidates they believed had been wrongly omitted from the published lists. Further clarification from the commission is expected to determine the status of the disputed nominations.
