Omitted candidates: INEC upholds 41 of governorship petitions, rejects 28

By Omeiza Ajayi The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has upheld 41 of the 69 petitions filed against the final list of governorship candidates for the 2027 general election, while rejecting 28. Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC) of the commission, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday night. According to him, the petitions came from 12 political parties across 26 states. He said, “The complaints concerned the omission of certain political parties, the wrongful inclusion of candidates of political parties whose names were not contained in the membership registers submitted by their political parties, and instances of alleged multiple nominations. ” Haruna said the commission examined the complaints against its records and the law.

“Following a review of the complaints, relevant records and applicable legal provisions, the Commission found merit in some representations and approved the inclusion of affected candidates and their political parties, while complaints found to be without merit were declined. “In addition, some names that were wrongfully published in the final list were removed after verifying that their names were not on the register. “The Commission also approved the removal of candidates whose nominations were found to be inconsistent with the applicable legal requirements,” the statement said. Although INEC did not name any candidate or state, a source had earlier revealed that the commission’s meeting on Thursday to review complaints from parties and candidates left out of the lists had cleared a former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Kano State, Abdulsalam Gwarzo, to contest…