The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will today publish the names and personal particulars of candidates contesting the January 16, 2027 presidential election as well as elections into the Senate and House of Representatives.
Nigerians are expected to examine the Form EC9, which contains the names, academic qualifications and other documents submitted by candidates seeking election into the Presidency, Senate and House of Representatives for compliance with constitutional and electoral requirements.
Potential voters as well as political opponents are expected to look out for discrepancies in certificates, age declarations, affidavits or nomination procedures.
The INEC Candidate Nomination Portal for the national elections closed on July 14 after it was extended by three days to allow political parties conclude their nomination process.
There are fears that some prominent members of the House of Representatives may be missing from the list of candidates when the commission releases it.
House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere who lost his primaries in Edo, Minority Leader Fred Agbedi who is seeking the Senate ticket on the platform of the Tanimu Turaki led faction of the PDP, Nicholas Mutu (the longest serving member of the House) who also lost his ticket in Delta and one of the most experienced and vocal members of the House, Awaji Nombet Abiante, may not be on the list.
Political parties have kept the list of the candidates they uploaded to the INEC portal close to their chests, leading to anxiety on the party of several candidates, especially those contesting the National Assembly seats.
However, there are fears within the parties that unresolved internal disputes arising from party primaries may escalate once the particulars become public, especially in constituencies where there were parallel primaries.
Although there is no specific date on the timetable dedicated to claims and objections, parties are expected to resolve any dispute arising from the nomination process during the period of the display while they have until August 22, 2026 to substitute the candidates they may have submitted to the commission.
Such replacement is expected to be done in accordance with the provisions of section 31 of the Electoral Act, which provides that “a candidate may withdraw his candidature by notice in writing signed by him together with a sworn affidavit delivered personally by the candidate to the political party that nominated him for the election and the political party shall convey such withdrawal and the sworn affidavit to the Commission not later than 90 days to the election”.
Unconfirmed reports have it that about 18 political parties met the INEC deadline for the upload of candidates to the INEC portal for the Presidential elections, including the All Progressives Congress, the Wike backed Peoples Democratic Party, Africa Democratic Congress and the National Democratic Congress.
The Nation also gathered that while some of the parties including the APC, NDC, ADC and PDP are contesting the 109 Senatorial and 360 House of Representatives elections, many of the parties like the NNPP have decided to concentrate on areas where they believe they have advantage and chances of winning the election.
While the leadership of Accord party recognised by the electoral umpire has said it does not have a candidate for the election, Gbenga Hashim has insisted that he is the candidate of the party for the presidential election.
On the other hand, sources close to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) told The Nation that it decided to concentrate on parts of the country where it believes it has advantage as a result of the leadership crisis that rocked the party before the exit of the its presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
The Tanimu Turaki led faction of the PDP has already placed its candidates on standby, assuring them that if the Commission failed to publish their names, they should not panic as they were following every legal procedure to resolve issues surrounding their nominations.
Although the INEC guidelines require online submission of list of candidates, the party said they have submitted the list of their candidate manually to the commission, adding that such submission has been duly acknowledged by the commission.
Sources within INEC said while the Turaki group has submitted a list to the commission, they have not followed the laid down procedure for the submission of candidates, adding that there was no way the commission can publish the list submitted by them since they are not the legally recognised leadership of the party.
The publication of the list, according to the Commission’s timetable and schedule of activities is in line with the provisions of section 29(3) of the Electoral Act which provides that the list be published within 21 days of submission by the parties in the constituencies where the candidate intends to contest the elections.
Section 29 (1) of the electoral acts 2026 states that “every political party shall, not later than 120 days before the date appointed for a general election under this Act, submit to the Commission, in the prescribed Forms, the list of the candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the elections, who shall have emerged from valid primaries conducted by the political party.
Subsection (2) on its part provides that “the list or information submitted by each candidate shall be accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by the candidate at the Federal High Court, High Court of a State, or Federal Capital Territory, indicating that he or she has fulfilled all the constitutional requirements for election into that office”.
On the other hand, subsection (3) empowers the commission to publish the list for claims and objections by Nigerians, stating that “the Commission shall, within 21 days of the receipt of the personal particulars of the candidate, publish same in the constituency where the candidate intends to contest the election.”
Subsection (4) states that “any person may apply to the Commission for a copy of nomination form, affidavit and any other document submitted by a candidate at an election and the Commission shall, upon payment of a prescribed fee, issue such person with a certified true copy of the document within 14 days.”
