Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of removing some of its nominated candidates from the commission’s published list and replacing them with names allegedly not submitted or authorised by the party.
The allegation was made by the NDC National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, in a statement on Sunday following INEC’s publication of candidates for the 2027 State Houses of Assembly elections.
Key Highlights
- NDC alleges INEC replaced some of its nominated candidates with unauthorised names.
- The party identified 10 disputed names in its Anambra candidate list.
- NDC chairman alleges similar issues in Benue and Imo states.
- Party accuses some INEC officials of bypassing its leadership during the candidate-upload process.
- NDC says it will approach the courts to restore its authentic candidates.
NDC Raises Alarm Over Candidate List
Cleopas said the NDC INEC candidate list published for Anambra State contained names that were not approved or submitted by the party.
According to him, the development could undermine the party’s preparations for the 2027 elections and create confusion among its supporters.
The NDC chairman specifically alleged that several persons whose names were not authorised by the party had been listed as its candidates for various State House of Assembly constituencies in Anambra State, the home state of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
He called on the INEC Chairman to immediately investigate how the disputed names appeared on the commission’s list.
Cleopas also urged the electoral commission to extend the investigation to other states, including Benue and Imo, where he claimed the party had observed what he described as a similar pattern.
According to him, the development had embarrassed the party, its leadership and its legitimate candidates while creating disaffection among supporters in Nigeria and abroad.
“We, as a party, are also carrying out our own independent investigation, the preliminary findings of which are already pointing to the complicity of INEC officials in foisting names purporting to be our candidates, but who are not from us,” he alleged.
He further claimed that the candidate-uploading process was being used to intimidate and embarrass the party.
NDC Lists Disputed Anambra Candidates
The party identified the following names as persons allegedly published by INEC as its candidates in Anambra State:
Onitsha South 1: Umennaajiego Jude Ezenwa
Onitsha South 2: Akpotue Obinna Chibuike
Orumba North: Nwankwo Chiemerie
Anaocha 1: Maduagwu Eric K
Idemili North: Ngoebisi Obinna
Njikoka 1: Isintume Charles
Nnewi South: Nwachukwu Nonso
Nnewi South 2: Okeke Ifeanyi Akunne
Ayamelum: Nnonyelu Samson E
Dunukofia: Azotani Chuks Francis
Cleopas said the party was particularly concerned about the process through which the names were uploaded and subsequently published.
How NDC Says the Dispute Started
The NDC chairman said that following the conclusion of the party’s primaries and appeal process, stakeholders from Anambra State, the national leadership, representatives of Peter Obi and members of the appeals panel agreed on a final list of candidates.
He said the list was signed off by the relevant stakeholders before being uploaded to the INEC portal using the code provided to the party by the electoral commission.
However, Cleopas alleged that INEC officials subsequently kept nine of the names on “Pending” status, claiming that the names were already in the commission’s system based on submissions made by officials who monitored the party’s primaries.
He said the NDC challenged the disputed names and submitted the identities of candidates it considered legitimate, but alleged that INEC declined to replace the names.
Cleopas further alleged that INEC later collected Form EC-9 directly from some of the persons whose candidacies were being disputed and uploaded the documents without going through the party.
“To further confirm that there was a predetermined effort on the part of INEC to impose the said nine candidates on the party, and embarrass both NDC and Mr. Peter Obi, INEC went behind the NDC to collect the Form EC-9 directly from the candidates, bypassing the party, and uploading same,” he alleged.
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NDC Threatens Legal Action
Cleopas argued that where there was a discrepancy between the names submitted by a political party and information obtained by INEC from its monitoring teams, the commission should have left the affected positions vacant pending clarification.
“At the very worst, INEC could have left us with no candidates for those positions, if they knew they were unwilling to engage us in addressing any perceived anomaly,” he said.
The NDC chairman accused INEC of creating a pattern in which opposition parties were allegedly prevented from uploading their preferred candidates while other names were introduced into their candidate lists.
He vowed that the party would pursue the matter through all available legal channels and seek the restoration of candidates it considers authentic.
“We are moving to approach the court of competent jurisdiction to seek redress and restore our authentic candidates. The general public and our millions of supporters should note that these are not our candidates,” he said.
The allegations by the NDC come as political parties intensify preparations for the 2027 general elections, with the publication of candidate lists expected to trigger further scrutiny and possible legal challenges over nominations and substitutions.
