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The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of allegedly removing candidates nominated by the party for the 2027 general elections and replacing them with names the party says it neither nominated nor submitted.
The allegation followed INEC’s publication on Sunday of the list of candidates for the 2027 State Houses of Assembly elections, which the NDC National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, said contained unauthorized names in several constituencies.
Zuwoghe, in a statement issued on behalf of the party, described the development as a deliberate attempt to undermine the NDC ahead of the elections, particularly in Anambra State, the home state of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Gregory Obi.
“The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, totally condemns the action of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its officials over the uploading and publication of unauthorized names in various constituencies, principally in the Anambra State House of Assembly, where nine names, unknown to the party; names not authorized by the party; names not sent by the party to INEC, in accordance with the law, have now been uploaded and published as candidates of the party,” he said.
The NDC chairman called on the INEC Chairman to immediately institute an investigation into how the disputed names found their way onto the commission’s published candidate list.
He said the investigation should not be restricted to Anambra, alleging that similar incidents had been observed in other states, including Benue and Imo.
According to him, the development had embarrassed the party and its genuine candidates while also creating disaffection among NDC supporters in Nigeria and the diaspora.
“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,” Zuwoghe alleged.
He further alleged that the commission’s candidate-uploading process was being used to intimidate or blackmail political parties.
NDC Names 10 Disputed Anambra Candidates
The NDC chairman specifically listed 10 names published under the party’s platform for the Anambra State House of Assembly elections which, he maintained, were not nominated by the party.
The disputed names and constituencies are:
- 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 1: Nwachukwu Nonso
- Nnewi South 2: Okeke Ifeanyi Akunne
- Ayamelum: Nnonyelu Samson E.
- Dunukofia: Azotani Chuks Francis
Zuwoghe stressed that, as National Chairman and the party official responsible for the credentials used to upload the NDC’s candidates, he did not upload the disputed names.
“I, as Chairman of the Party and custodian of the code given to the NDC by INEC for the upload of our candidates, never uploaded those names, and I unequivocally state that the party did not also upload those nine names,” he said.
NDC: INEC Kept Nine Names On ‘Pending’ Status
According to the NDC chairman, the controversy emerged after the party completed its primary elections and appeal process and stakeholders, party leadership, representatives of Peter Obi and the party’s appeals panel agreed on a final list of candidates.
He said the final list was signed off by the relevant stakeholders before being uploaded to the INEC portal using credentials provided to the party.
However, Zuwoghe alleged that INEC officials retained nine of the names on “Pending” status, claiming that the names were already in the commission’s system based on submissions by INEC officials who monitored the NDC primaries.
The party subsequently appealed against the disputed names and forwarded what it described as the authentic candidates produced through its nomination process, alongside the necessary covering letter.
Zuwoghe alleged that INEC nevertheless proceeded with the disputed names.
He further claimed that the commission subsequently obtained Form EC-9 directly from the affected individuals and uploaded the forms 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 Gregory Obi, INEC went behind the NDC to collect the Form EC-9 directly from the candidates, bypassing the party, and uploading the same,” he alleged.
“It then went ahead to publish the controversial names as authentic candidates of the party. This not only runs against the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC’s own guidelines, it is simply unacceptable.”
‘INEC Should Have Left The Spaces Blank’
The NDC chairman argued that if INEC had identified discrepancies between candidates submitted by the party and information gathered by its monitoring officials, the commission should have sought clarification rather than publishing candidates not recognized by the party.
“The worst INEC can do in a situation whereby the names submitted by the party do not tally with those INEC claimed to have received from its monitoring teams on the field is to leave the space blank, not to preload fictitious names and prevent the party from loading its genuine candidates,” he said.
“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.”
Zuwoghe accused INEC of developing a pattern in which political parties are allegedly prevented from uploading their legitimate candidates while names selected outside the parties’ nomination structures are introduced into the electoral process.
He said the alleged practice was particularly concerning where opposition parties were involved.
NDC Threatens Legal Action
The NDC chairman said the party would pursue the matter through every available legal avenue and would seek to have the disputed names removed and its duly nominated candidates restored.
“Even as we move 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, as published by INEC,” he said.
The allegations place the electoral commission under pressure to explain the origin and verification process behind the disputed names, particularly the circumstances surrounding their appearance on the official candidate list.
The NDC’s position also raises broader questions about the respective roles of political parties and INEC in the nomination, submission, verification and publication of candidates ahead of the 2027 elections.
As the party prepares to pursue the matter in court, the outcome could have implications for the affected constituencies and for the wider debate over the integrity, transparency and accountability of the candidate-submission process ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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