The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced plans to include Accord Party candidate, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, in the final list of candidates for the 2027 presidential election, raising the number of contenders to 19.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this at an event organised by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Abuja.
According to him, the commission is complying with a Federal High Court judgment delivered on October 5, 2026, which directed Accord Party to recognise Olawepo-Hashim as its presidential candidate and forward his name to INEC.
The ruling resolved a prolonged dispute over the party’s presidential ticket.
Amupitan noted that the inclusion would increase the number of presidential candidates from the 18 previously published by the commission.
He also described the forthcoming 2027 general election as one of the largest and most complex democratic exercises in Africa, citing over 103 million registered voters, 176,846 polling units and 774 local government areas.
Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Prof. Chidi Odinkalu has questioned the reported appointment of Mrs. Oluyemi Titilayo Adeyemi-Showunmi as head of INEC’s Electoral Operations Department.
Odinkalu’s comments followed reports that Adeyemi-Showunmi, whose husband is political figure Segun Showunmi, was redeployed from INEC’s Lagos office to the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Observers say the development has sparked public interest because of the strategic role of the Electoral Operations Department in election planning and administration ahead of the 2027 polls.
