INEC Rejects PDP Faction’s Claim Naming Jonathan As 2027 Presidential Candidate

INEC Rejects PDP Faction’s Claim Naming Jonathan As 2027 Presidential Candidate
Commission says political parties must submit candidates through electronic portal.
PDP faction accuses INEC of bias amid ongoing party leadership crisis.

The Independent National Electoral Commission has dismissed the claim by the Kabiru Turaki led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party that it manually submitted its list of candidates for the 2027 general elections.

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that the faction had claimed that its list included former President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate, alongside governorship and National Assembly candidates.

However, INEC said political parties are required to submit the names of their candidates through the commission’s designated electronic portal.

The commission’s position has raised questions over the faction’s claim that it was denied access codes to the electronic platform and subsequently resorted to manual submission.

INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Ita Messi, stated this in an interview with Leadership in Abuja on Friday while responding to the faction’s claims.

Ita Messi said she could not confirm whether the faction had submitted any list of candidates to the commission but maintained that manual submission violated the established process.

“I am not in a position to confirm that to you, but can only tell you that there are procedures for submitting the names of political parties’ candidates to the INEC portal,” Ita Messi said.

She also questioned how the faction could have submitted its candidates manually after claiming that it was denied access to the commission’s electronic platform.

“If the faction claimed that they were denied access to the code, how did they submit the list of their candidates to the commission?” she asked.

The commission’s reaction followed a press conference held by the Turaki led faction in Abuja on Thursday, where it announced that it had submitted its list of candidates for the 2027 elections to INEC.

The faction said the list contained the names of former President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate, as well as candidates for governorship and National Assembly positions.

It alleged that INEC denied it the access codes required to upload the names of its candidates through the commission’s electronic submission platform.

The faction said it subsequently submitted the list manually after the commission allegedly refused to grant it access to the electronic platform.

The faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, maintained that the manual submission complied with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.

INEC Rejects PDP Faction’s Claim Naming Jonathan As 2027 Presidential Candidate

Ememobong also accused INEC of taking sides in the PDP leadership crisis, alleging that the electoral body had failed to remain neutral and ignored relevant facts and judicial decisions concerning the party’s leadership dispute.