2027 timeline: INEC, parties clash over access codes for candidates’ upload

Nigeria's electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and various political parties are locked in a dispute over the distribution of crucial access codes for the nomination portal. This disagreement threatens to disrupt the process of uploading candidate particulars ahead of the 2027 general elections.

While INEC maintains that the access codes were released on Friday and that training sessions were conducted on Thursday and Friday for party representatives, most parties report not having received them. The BOOT party is noted as an exception. This discrepancy has created uncertainty among parties eager to meet the July 11 deadline for submitting nominations for presidential and National Assembly seats.

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Any party claiming that they do not have the access codes, ask them if they were at the training on Thursday and Friday. Were they expecting to have been given codes without the training?

INEC's Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, dismissed claims of non-receipt, urging parties to confirm if their representatives attended the recent training. She stated that if codes are still missing by Monday, then such claims would be valid. The commission's timetable indicates the online submission window opened on June 27, 2026, and closes on July 11, 2026, for presidential and National Assembly candidates. Similar deadlines apply to governorship and State Houses of Assembly candidates.

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The training continues and if by Monday(today) they have not got the codes, then they can now make such claims.