Nine registered political parties have received login codes from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) so they can upload the names of their candidates for the general elections in 2027.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), All Progressives Congress (APC), and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are reportedly among the parties.
With the exception of Kogi and Osun states, where governorship elections are held off-cycle, the candidates are anticipated to run in the presidential, Senate, House of Representatives, and governorship elections.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior INEC official disputed rumors that the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) had been refused entry to the commission’s candidate nomination system.
The insider told Leadership, “It is false to say that the NDC was denied access code to upload its candidates to the INEC portal.”
“The commission has no justification at all for preventing any registered political party from using the platform. I can vouch for the fact that the NDC was one of the parties granted access credentials to upload their candidates’ names.
The explanation comes after assertions made by representatives of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, which is presently embroiled in legal action on attempts to deregister the party.
Osa Director, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, reportedly claimed that when party officials contacted INEC to request the access code, they were told that the commission will contact them.
“We asked INEC for the access code so we could input our candidates’ names to the INEC system. He was cited as saying, “They told us that they would get back to us,” and that the party should not be held accountable for any delays in posting candidates.
The INEC official, however, insisted that the commission has handled all qualified political parties equally and openly.
Before the end of business, more political parties were anticipated to receive their access credentials, according to the source, bringing the total number of parties granted access to roughly 13.
The source emphasized that the commission was still dedicated to giving all candidates in the 2027 general elections equal opportunities, urging Nigerians to ignore rumors that certain political parties would not be allowed to use the candidate nomination platform.
