The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of allegedly replacing some of its nominated candidates for the 2027 general elections with names not authorised by the party.
The party’s National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, made the allegation while reacting to INEC’s recently published list of candidates for the State Houses of Assembly elections.
Zuwoghe described the development as a deliberate attempt to undermine the party ahead of the elections, particularly in Anambra State, the home state of the NDC’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
In a statement, the NDC chairman alleged that 10 names published by INEC as the party’s candidates in various Anambra State constituencies were neither nominated nor submitted by the party.
“We totally condemn the action of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its officials over the uploading and publication of unauthorised names in various constituencies, principally in the Anambra State House of Assembly,” he said.
The party specifically listed candidates published for Onitsha South 1 and 2, Orumba North, Anaocha 1, Idemili North, Njikoka 1, Nnewi South 1 and 2, Ayamelum and Dunukofia constituencies as names unknown to the party.
Zuwoghe called on the INEC chairman to immediately investigate the matter and determine how the names came to be published as NDC candidates.
He said the investigation should be extended to other states, including Benue and Imo, where the party claimed similar discrepancies had been observed.
According to him, the controversy had caused embarrassment to the party and its genuine candidates, while also creating disaffection among its supporters in Nigeria and abroad.
The NDC chairman further alleged that the party was conducting its own investigation, with preliminary findings allegedly pointing to the involvement of some INEC officials in the disputed process.
He explained that following the party’s primaries and subsequent appeal process, a final list of candidates was agreed upon by relevant stakeholders, the party leadership, representatives of Obi and the appeals panel.
However, Zuwoghe alleged that when the list was uploaded to the INEC portal using the access code issued to the party, some names remained on “Pending” status.
He claimed that INEC officials told the party that the names were already in the commission’s system because they had allegedly been submitted by officials who monitored the party’s primaries.
The NDC chairman said the party subsequently challenged the disputed names and submitted the details of its actual candidates, but alleged that INEC failed to replace them.
He further accused the commission of obtaining Form EC-9 directly from the disputed candidates and subsequently publishing their names as official NDC candidates without the party’s authorisation.
“This not only runs against the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC’s own guidelines, it is simply unacceptable,” Zuwoghe said.
He argued that where discrepancies existed between candidates identified by INEC’s monitoring teams and those submitted by a political party, the commission should have resolved the matter with the party rather than publishing names the party did not recognise.
The NDC chairman also accused INEC of creating confusion within opposition parties by allegedly preventing them from uploading their preferred candidates while recognising individuals the parties claimed not to have nominated.
He vowed that the NDC would pursue the matter through all available legal channels and approach the courts to challenge the disputed nominations.
Zuwoghe urged the party’s supporters and the general public to disregard the disputed names published by INEC, insisting that they were not the candidates nominated by the NDC.
The allegations by the NDC are subject to clarification and response from INEC.
