INEC’s final governorship list is out, and some opposition candidates are missing. Here’s what happened

INEC has published its final list of governorship candidates for the February 6, 2027 elections. Three prominent names are not on it: the PDP’s Isa Pantami in Gombe and Ladi Adebutu in Ogun, and the NDC’s Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo in Kano. INEC hasn’t publicly given reasons, but the omissions come two weeks after a Supreme Court judgment that tightened the rules on who parties can field.

The court ruling

On September 24, a seven-member Supreme Court panel unanimously ruled in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party, restoring parts of the Electoral Act 2026 that the Court of Appeal had struck down in July. The restored sections deal with party membership registers. Under them, a party must give INEC its membership register at least 21 days before its primaries.

Only members on that register can vote or be voted for in the primaries, and the party must use that register, not another one. A party that fails to submit it on time cannot field a candidate in the election.

The court noted that the law doesn’t personally disqualify any individual. Its effect, the judgment said, is to stop a party from fielding people who weren’t on the register it submitted.

What happened next

INEC’s chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, said on October 6 that the commission had only just received the certified copy of the judgment and was reviewing it. On October 9, the APC wrote to INEC asking it to enforce the ruling and check every party’s compliance, and the House of Representatives electoral committee made a similar call. The final list came out the next day, with 16 candidates in Gombe and 13 in Ogun, none from the PDP.

The disputed cases

Pantami, a former APC member, joined the PDP on May 19 and was on INEC’s earlier provisional list. He later won a court-ordered rerun primary. His camp calls the omission a temporary challenge and says it is working with PDP organs and INEC to fix it.

In Ogun, speculation centres on whether Adebutu’s name was on the register the party submitted, but INEC hasn’t confirmed that. Ogun PDP says he registered on time and that his membership card was printed, verified and submitted. It also alleges the ruling party pressured INEC, which hasn’t been established.

In Kano, the NDC chairman says Gwarzo remains the party’s candidate.

What the parties can do

Under Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, a party has 14 days to notify INEC in writing, with an affidavit, where a nominated candidate’s name is missing. Whether it applies to these cases is not yet clear.

What’s still unknown

INEC hasn’t said whether the problem is a missing register or individual names left off a submitted one, and it hasn’t said whether other parties’ candidates are affected.