INEC excludes PDP candidates in Gombe and Ogun from final list — Premium Times Nigeria
Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has excluded the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Isa Pantami in Gombe State and Ladi Adebutu in Ogun State, from the final lists of participants in the gubernatorial elections scheduled for 6 February 2027. This was reported by Premium Times Nigeria.
INEC’s final list includes 16 candidates in Gombe State and 13 in Ogun State, but contains no PDP representatives. At the same time, the commission registered Kingsley Chinda as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Rivers State gubernatorial election.
Supreme Court decision
INEC documents do not explain the reasons for excluding certain candidates. The publication of the final lists followed a 24 September decision by Nigeria’s Supreme Court, which restored the provisions of the 2026 Electoral Act concerning party registers.
Under these rules, only party members whose names are entered in the register submitted to INEC within the prescribed deadline may participate in primaries, party congresses and conventions. Parties are also required to use the submitted register during primaries, and a party that fails to submit it on time cannot nominate candidates.
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Situation surrounding the candidates
On 24 September, the Federal High Court in Gombe annulled Pantami’s initial nomination as the PDP candidate and ordered the party to hold new primaries within 30 days. The lawsuit was filed by nomination aspirants Usman Aliyu and Hamisu Mailantarki, who challenged the procedure of the May primaries. The court found that it did not comply with party procedures and electoral legislation because some eligible aspirants had been excluded from participation. At the new primaries on 29 September, Pantami again became the party’s candidate.
Regarding Adebutu, two groups — the Ogun Democratic Accountability Forum and Elections Integrity Watch — stated that his name was absent from the PDP membership register submitted to INEC. The PDP chapter in Ogun State rejected these claims, stating that Adebutu is a registered party member and that the requirements for submitting the register had been met.
Chinda’s candidacy also raised questions over the timing of his move to the APC. According to the publication, he registered with the APC on 27 April 2026 and announced his departure from the PDP on 2 June, after the APC primaries held on 21 May. The APC chapter in Rivers rejected calls to disqualify Chinda and insists that his nomination is valid.
