INEC investigates how ‘strange’ names appeared on NDC candidate list for 2027 elections

Nigeria’s electoral commission is turning to its own digital records to investigate how candidates the Nigeria Democratic Congress says it never authorised appeared on its 2027 election list.

The allegations concern several state House of Assembly constituencies, particularly in Anambra State. The NDC claimed that names it had neither nominated nor approved were uploaded and published as its candidates.

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For the avoidance of doubt, INEC does not nominate candidates for political parties. The nomination of candidates is the responsibility of political parties, subject to compliance with the Constitution, the Electoral Act 2026 and other applicable laws, Regulations and Guidelines.

INEC denied that it had replaced party nominees with its own choices. Adedayo Oketola, the commission’s chief press secretary and media adviser to its chairman, said INEC had no legal authority to nominate candidates for political parties or substitute candidates validly nominated under the law.

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It is, therefore, possible to establish objectively the history and source of entries relating to any candidate whose name appears on the portal.

He said political parties submit candidate details through INEC’s nomination portal, using credentials issued for that purpose. Every action on the portal is electronically recorded, and the commission’s records and audit trail can establish the history and source of entries.

Oketola said the allegation that officials had “smuggled” candidates into the NDC list should not be settled through speculation. He also distinguished between monitoring a party primary, which INEC must do for statutory purposes, and choosing a party’s candidate. Monitoring a primary, he said, does not give the commission the power to nominate or select a candidate.

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Neither does a report made by officials who monitor a primary confer upon the commission the power to choose a candidate for the political party.