The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has rejected claims made by the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, that it had substituted the names of the party’s properly nominated candidates with unauthorised names ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC’s statement, signed by Mohammed Kudu Haruna, Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, described the accusation as “unfounded.”
The commission said that political parties, not INEC, are responsible for choosing and submitting their candidates to run in the elections.
INEC said that, according to the law, political parties are solely responsible for nominating candidates.
The statement said, “INEC does not have the legal power to choose, add, or replace a candidate for any party.”
The commission said its role in monitoring party primaries is only to ensure compliance with the law and that it does not get to pick candidates for political parties.
According to INEC, all 22 political parties that are registered and taking part in the 2027 elections have chosen two officers who have the right skills to handle their candidate selection process and who were trained by the commission.
It said that access codes for the nomination portal were then given directly to the national chairmen of the parties, not through a representative.
The commission also said that the candidate lists were created based on submissions from the political parties, and these lists were jointly signed by the national chairmen and secretaries of each party using the Form EC9 series.
It therefore rejected claims that it independently uploaded or changed the information provided by the NDC.
It said, “In fact, the Commission has a form called EC9E, which lists these candidates and was sent to the Commission. It was signed by the National Chairman and the National Secretary of the party.”
INEC told political parties and other groups that it remains committed to transparency, accountability and fairness in the election process.