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 it said were unknown to the party.
The party made the allegation in a statement signed by its National Chairman, Sen. Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, following INEC’s publication of the list of candidates for the State Houses of Assembly elections.
Zuwoghe described the development as a deliberate attempt to undermine the party ahead of the 2027 elections, warning that it could create confusion and dissatisfaction among the party’s supporters.
The NDC chairman particularly cited the Anambra State House of Assembly list, where he alleged that 10 names published by INEC were neither nominated nor authorised by the party.
The affected constituencies listed by the party include Onitsha South 1, Onitsha South 2, Orumba North, Anaocha 1, Idemili North, Njikoka 1, Nnewi South, Nnewi South 2, Ayamelum and Dunukofia.
According to Zuwoghe, the party conducted its primaries and appeal process before producing a final list of candidates endorsed by relevant stakeholders, the party leadership, representatives of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and the appeals panel.
He alleged that after the final list was uploaded to the INEC portal using the code provided to the party, nine names were kept in “Pending” status by INEC officials.
Zuwoghe claimed that INEC officials told the party that the names were already in the commission’s system based on information submitted by officials who monitored the NDC primaries.
The chairman said the party subsequently challenged the names and submitted the identities of its actual candidates, but alleged that INEC refused to make the necessary changes.
He further alleged that the electoral commission subsequently collected Form EC-9 directly from the disputed candidates and uploaded the forms without going through the party.
“This not only runs against the grain of the Electoral Act and INEC’s own guidelines, it is simply unacceptable,” Zuwoghe said.
He argued that where there was a discrepancy between the candidates submitted by a political party and information allegedly obtained by INEC’s monitoring teams, the commission should have left the affected positions blank rather than publish candidates the party did not recognise.
The NDC also alleged that similar incidents had occurred in other states, including Benue and Imo, describing the development as part of what it called a broader pattern of opposition parties being prevented from presenting their preferred candidates.
“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,” the statement said.
The party called on the INEC Chairman to urgently investigate the matter and determine how the disputed names found their way onto the commission’s published list.
Zuwoghe said the NDC would pursue the matter through legal channels, including approaching a court of competent jurisdiction to seek redress and have what it described as its authentic candidates restored.
He urged members of the public and NDC supporters to disregard the disputed names, insisting that they were not candidates nominated by the party.
The NDC chairman vowed that the party would pursue the matter “to the very end” to ensure that the disputed candidates are removed and the alleged irregularity reversed.