The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will consider the fate of former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, Ladi Adebutu and other politicians omitted from its final list of candidates for the 6 February 2027 governorship elections at its next meeting on Thursday.
INEC National Commissioner, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this in an interview on Wednesday, amid complaints from affected candidates and their political parties.
Pantami is seeking the Gombe governorship on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while Adebutu is the party’s candidate for the Ogun governorship election.
Their names, alongside those of Aminu Gwarzo, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Kano State, and his Kaduna State counterpart, Danjuma Laah, were omitted from the final list published by INEC on 10 October.
The commission also excluded governorship candidates of the Social Democratic Party, New Nigeria People’s Party, Action Alliance and Accord in Bauchi State. The affected candidates are Abdullahi Yakubu, Musa Zubairu, Ahmed Shuaibu and Mohammed Aminu, respectively.
The exclusions triggered protests and legal moves by the affected politicians and their parties, which have urged the commission to review its decision.
“As for the final list of candidates, we will meet on it at our next commission meeting on Thursday,” Haruna said.
INEC attributed the omissions to the failure of the affected political parties to submit their membership registers within the period stipulated by law.
The commission said its decision followed a Supreme Court judgement delivered on 24 September 2026, which upheld the constitutionality of Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026. The provisions require political parties to submit their membership registers to INEC before conducting valid primaries, congresses and conventions.
According to the commission, the Supreme Court affirmed the legality of its timetable requiring political parties to submit their membership registers between 21 April and 10 May 2026.
“In particular, the court upheld the constitutionality of Item No. 2 of INEC’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities, which mandated political parties to submit their membership registers between 21st April and 10th May, 2026,” the commission stated.
INEC maintained that parties which failed to comply with the requirement were ineligible to sponsor candidates in the elections.
The commission also cited Section 287(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which requires authorities to enforce decisions of courts of competent jurisdiction, as part of the basis for applying the Supreme Court judgement to the final list.
However, the affected parties have insisted that they complied with the relevant legal requirements and urged INEC to correct what they described as wrongful omissions.
The PDP has approached INEC over the exclusion of Pantami and Adebutu. The party’s National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, also deposed to an affidavit at the Federal High Court registry in Abuja on 15 October, challenging the omissions.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mohammed Jungudo, said its leadership and the candidates’ legal teams were engaging the commission to resolve the matter. He added that legal action remained an option if the dispute was not settled.
In Ogun State, the PDP expressed confidence that Adebutu’s name would be restored to the list.
The state party chairman, Abayomi Tella, described the omission as an error, insisting that the party had met the legal requirements for the candidate’s nomination.
“The party views the omission as an error by INEC; we are very confident and optimistic that INEC will restore the name because every requirement of the law has been fulfilled,” Tella said.
In Gombe State, an aide to Pantami said the former minister would explore available legal options to challenge his exclusion.
Pantami emerged as the PDP governorship candidate following a court-ordered rerun of the party’s primary on 29 September.
His name appeared on INEC’s provisional list published on 29 August but was missing from the final list released on 10 October.
The NDC has also protested the exclusion of its Kano governorship candidate, Gwarzo, and his running mate, Mustapha Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, said the NDC had written to INEC and received acknowledgements but was yet to receive a substantive response.
INEC had earlier given political parties 14 days from the publication of the final list to notify the commission of candidates they believed had been wrongly omitted, in line with Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026. The deadline expired on 24 October.
The commission’s planned deliberation is expected to determine the next steps concerning the affected candidates, whose parties are seeking a review of their exclusion from the final list.
