By Jane Salihu
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of using its candidate-uploading portal to allegedly sideline candidates nominated by the party and replace them with individuals the party says it never selected.
Reacting to INEC’s publication of candidates for the 2027 State Houses of Assembly elections, NDC National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, alleged that the controversy centred on the handling of some names on INEC’s backend portal, particularly in Anambra State, where the party claimed that several candidates were kept on “Pending” despite its submission of an approved list.
Zuwoghe said the development was especially troubling because Anambra is the home state of the NDC presidential candidate, Peter Gregory Obi, and alleged that the disputed names did not emerge from the party’s primaries or appeals process.
According to him, the NDC had completed its primaries and subsequent appeal process before stakeholders from Anambra, the party leadership, representatives of Obi and the party’s Appeals Panel agreed on and endorsed a final list of candidates.
He said the approved list was subsequently uploaded to the INEC portal using the access code supplied to the party by the electoral commission.
However, the NDC chairman alleged that INEC officials retained nine names on “Pending” status, claiming that those names were already in the Commission’s system based on information submitted by officials who monitored the party’s primaries.
Zuwoghe said the party formally challenged the disputed entries and submitted the names of its actual candidates with the necessary covering letter, but alleged that the Commission did not remove the names.
He identified the disputed candidates as those listed for Onitsha South I and II, Orumba North, Anaocha I, Idemili North, Njikoka I, Nnewi South I and II, Ayamelum and Dunukofia constituencies.
The NDC chairman alleged that the situation escalated when INEC purportedly collected Form EC-9 directly from the affected individuals rather than through the party before uploading their details and publishing them as NDC candidates.
He described the alleged action as a bypass of the party’s candidate nomination process and questioned the basis upon which individuals not recognised by the NDC could subsequently appear on INEC’s official candidate list under the party’s name.
“This not only runs against the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC’s own guidelines, it is simply unacceptable,” Zuwoghe said.
He called on the INEC Chairman to urgently investigate how the disputed names entered the Commission’s system and determine the officials responsible for the alleged irregularities.
The NDC also wants the investigation extended beyond Anambra, alleging that similar cases have been observed in other states, including Benue and Imo.
Zuwoghe said the party had commenced its own investigation and claimed that its preliminary findings suggested possible involvement of some INEC officials in what he described as an attempt to impose unauthorised candidates on the party.
He further alleged that the development was part of a broader pattern affecting opposition parties, warning that the publication of candidates not recognised by the parties could generate internal crises, confuse supporters and undermine confidence in the electoral process ahead of the 2027 elections.
The NDC chairman argued that if INEC found discrepancies between the candidates submitted by the party and information obtained from its monitoring teams, the Commission should have left the affected positions blank pending resolution rather than allegedly preloading alternative names.
“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 party vowed to challenge the disputed publication and pursue the matter through the courts, with Zuwoghe saying the NDC would seek the restoration of candidates it considers to have been validly nominated.
He urged the party’s supporters and the general public to disregard the disputed names published by INEC as candidates of the NDC, pending the outcome of the party’s legal action.
The allegations by the NDC have placed renewed focus on the candidate-uploading stage of the electoral process, particularly the interaction between political parties’ nomination lists and information independently obtained by INEC during party primaries.
