A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party led by Kabiru Turaki has announced it manually submitted former President Goodluck Jonathan’s name to the electoral commission as its 2027 presidential candidate, alongside its full slate of legislative and gubernatorial candidates, despite an ongoing leadership dispute within the party.

National Publicity Secretary Ini Ememobong told a press conference that the commission acknowledged receipt of the submission even though it allegedly denied the faction access to electronic submission codes, arguing that a recent Supreme Court judgment left the party without a legally recognized national leadership, prompting the faction’s Board of Trustees to establish an interim structure. He said the faction had gone to the Federal High Court in Abuja after the commission refused to recognize the interim leadership, criticizing a subsequent ruling by Justice Salim Ibrahim as inconsistent with earlier Supreme Court and Court of Appeal decisions, and confirmed the faction has appealed the ruling.

Ememobong accused the electoral commission of institutional bias in its handling of the party’s internal dispute, warning that if the commission ultimately publishes a different candidate list, it would reinforce concerns about its impartiality. He described the standoff as part of a broader struggle against what he called electoral authoritarianism, insisting the faction would continue pursuing legal remedies and remained confident the courts would ultimately side with it.