– Says INEC has no power of finality over party’s candidate
– Courts’ll do justice
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Presidential candidate of the Accord Party, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has declared that no administrative action by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can extinguish his candidacy for the 2027 presidential election.
Hashim was reacting to his exclusion from the final list of presidential candidates published by INEC, over the weekend.
In a statement issued in Abuja, yesterday, Hashim described the development as a matter that remains subject to judicial determination, insisting that he remains the duly nominated presidential candidate of the Accord Party.
“I am the candidate of the Accord Party. No one can exclude me from the 2027 presidential election. The court will do justice, he said.
Hashim said Nigeria’s constitutional democracy does not confer on INEC an overriding power of “finality” over disputes concerning who emerges as a political party’s candidate.
According to him, the adjudicatory powers vested in the courts exist precisely to prevent administrative decisions from becoming instruments of impunity or a means of foreclosing legitimate political rights.
“Our democracy does not give INEC any right of finality over who stands as the candidate of a political party. Where there is a dispute over the emergence or exclusion of a candidate, the adjudicatory functions of the courts are provided precisely to prevent impunity and to ensure that no administrative process becomes a pre-planned mechanism for keeping particular candidates off the ballot.
“We have seen this before. In the last Osun governorship election, the courts intervened in circumstances where candidates initially excluded from INEC’s processes were subsequently restored to the ballot. That is why nobody should assume that an administrative publication by INEC is the final word in a matter that is before the courts.”
Hashim has already taken the matter before the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking, among other reliefs, an order compelling the Accord Party to recognise him as its presidential candidate and transmit his name to INEC. The case has been heard and reserved for judgment.
His case is based on his contention that he emerged as the sole winner of Accord’s presidential primary conducted on May 30, 2026, after paying the prescribed nomination fee, with the exercise monitored by INEC officials.
He insisted that the dispute cannot be conclusively determined by an administrative listing.
“The publication by INEC is not the final determination of my candidacy. There is a subsisting legal dispute before the court, and I have confidence in the judicial process.
“I emerged from the presidential primary as the candidate. I have done what the law requires, and I believe the court will uphold the law.
“No individual or administrative action can take away a right that has been lawfully acquired. I remain the presidential candidate of Accord, and we will see this process through to its lawful conclusion,” said Hashim.
Hashim also took aim at what he described as the political forces that would prefer presidential contest built around division, sentiment and weakened opponents rather than one centered on substantive national issues.
“We know for a fact that those who have benefited from the dysfunction in Nigeria, together with their enablers across various institutions, are scared stiff of one candidate being on that ballot—Gbenga Hashim.
“I am the candidate they cannot easily fit into their old calculations. I am the candidate capable of winning votes across North and South. I am prepared to fight over issues that matter to ordinary Nigerians and over the future of this country, rather than participate in the politics of division, ethnicity, religion and sentiment.
“They may be comfortable competing against wounded candidates. They may be comfortable with a political environment where Nigerians are forced to choose between factions and personalities. But they are uncomfortable with a candidate who can speak to Nigerians across the country on the basis of ideas, competence and national interest.
“But, this plot, however sophisticated, shall fail by the grace of God.”
Hashim said his legal battle, therefore, goes beyond his personal political ambition, describing it as a test of the integrity of political party primaries, internal democracy and the constitutional right of Nigerians to freely choose their preferred presidential candidate.
“The real issue is whether a political party can conduct a presidential primary, produce a winner, and subsequently prevent that winner from participating in the election.
“If that can happen without judicial scrutiny, then, what happens to internal democracy within political parties? What happens to the right of party members who participated in the primary? And ultimately, what happens to the right of Nigerians to choose who they want on the ballot?
“That is why this case matters beyond Gbenga Hashim. It is about whether the rules of our democracy apply to everyone, including those who occupy powerful institutions.”
He called on his supporters and Nigerians who believe in democratic choice to remain calm, assuring them that he would continue to pursue the matter through constitutional and legal means.
“I am not asking anyone to break the law. I am asking that the law be allowed to work.
“We will not be intimidated, we will not be distracted and we will not surrender a legitimate democratic right because somebody has published a list.
“The court will speak, and when it does, we will abide by the judgment.”