2027: INEC excludes Pantami, Adebutu, clears Chinda in final governorship candidates’ list

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has excluded the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates in Gombe, Isa Pantami, and in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, from its final list of candidates for the 6 February 2027 governorship elections.

However, the commission listed Kingsley Chinda as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Rivers State.

Mr Chinda, a member of the House of Representatives, is an ally of Nyesom Wike, a PDP member serving in the APC-led federal government.

INEC’s final lists, published on Saturday, included 16 governorship candidates for Gombe State and 13 for Ogun State, with no PDP candidate.

According to the list, Abia State has 17 candidates, Adamawa (18), Akwa Ibom (20), Bauchi (15), Benue (12), Borno (13), Cross River (8), Delta (18), Ebonyi (12), Enugu (16), Jigawa (13), Kaduna (16), Kano (17), and Katsina (11).

Others are Kebbi (14), Kwara (12), Lagos (16), Nasarawa (13), Niger (15), Oyo (16), Plateau (15), Rivers (17), Sokoto (17), Taraba (12), Yobe (13), and Zamfara (15).

Eight other states hold off-cycle elections at different times. They are Kogi, Ekiti, Ondo, Imo, Osun, Edo, Bayelsa, Ondo and Anambra.

Among other candidates cleared by the electoral body are Governors Alex Otti (LP, Abia), Umaru Bago (APC, Niger), Caleb Muftwang (Plateau), Umo Eno (APC, Akwa Ibom), Kabir Yusuf (Kano), Hyacinth Alia (APC, Benue), Nasir Idris (APC, Kebbi), Bassey Otu (APC, Cross River), Francis Nwifuru (APC, Ebonyi), and Peter Mbah (APC, Enugu).

Others are Governors Umar Namadi (APC, Jigawa), Uba Sani (APC, Kaduna), Dikko Radda (APC, Katsina), Ahmed Aliyu (APC, Sokoto), Agbu Kefas (APC, Taraba) and Dauda Lawal (APC, Zamfara).

Some candidates listed are Baba Wali (APC, Yobe), Sani Muhammed Abacha (PDP, Kano), Pailinu Igwe (ADC, Ebonyi), Garba Lado (PDP, Katsina), Yakunu Salihu (APC, Kwara), Obafemi Hamzat (APC, Lagos), Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour (ADC, Lagos), Isa Ashiru (ADC, Kaduna), Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Ogun), Sharafadeen Alli (APC, Oyo), Hazeem Gbolarumi (PDP, Oyo), Adebisi Lawal (ADC, Ogun), Emmanuel Ombugadu (PDP, Nasarawa), Angbazo Nuhu (ADC, Nasarawa), Emmanuel Bwacha (PDP, Taraba), Victor Jireh (APM, Abia) and Dumo Lulu-Briggs (NDC, Rivers).

Though the commission’s documents did not state the reasons for omitting some candidates, the exclusions follow a Supreme Court judgement restoring provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 that restrict participation in party primaries to members whose names appear on membership registers submitted to INEC within the statutory period.

On 24 September, the Supreme Court restored Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, which the Court of Appeal had declared unconstitutional in July.

Under Section 77(5), only party members whose names appear on the membership register submitted to INEC within the prescribed period are eligible to participate in party primaries, congresses and conventions.

Section 77(6) requires political parties to use the submitted register for their primaries. In contrast, Section 77(7) provides that a party that fails to submit its register within the stipulated period is ineligible to field candidates.

The exclusion of Mr Pantami, the former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, comes after a separate legal challenge to his emergence as the PDP governorship candidate in Gombe State.

On 24 September, the Federal High Court in Gombe nullified his initial nomination and ordered the party to conduct a fresh primary within 30 days.

The suit followed complaints by PDP governorship aspirants, including Usman Aliyu and Khamisu Mailantarki, who challenged the process that produced Mr Pantami as the party’s candidate in May.

The court held that the process failed to comply with the party’s procedures and applicable electoral laws, excluding some aspirants who had been screened and cleared to participate.

Mr Pantami subsequently contested the fresh primary on 29 September and emerged as the party’s candidate again.

Mr Adebutu’s omission follows allegations that his name was absent from the PDP membership register submitted to INEC.

Two groups, the Ogun Democratic Accountability Forum and Elections Integrity Watch, questioned his eligibility, alleging the register did not include his name.

The Ogun PDP rejected the allegations, insisting that Mr Adebutu was a duly registered member and that the party had complied with the statutory requirements for submitting its membership register to INEC.

His absence from the final list, along with his running mate’s, leaves the PDP without a listed governorship candidate in Ogun State.

The Supreme Court judgment has also prompted questions about the eligibility of Kingsley Ogundu Chinda, the APC’s governorship candidate in Rivers State.

Mr Chinda registered with the APC on 27 April 2026 and formally announced his defection from the PDP to the APC on 2 June, after the APC had conducted its governorship primary on 21 May.

The sequence has raised questions about whether he was a registered APC member when the party held its primary and whether his name appeared on the membership register submitted to INEC within the required period.

The Rivers APC has dismissed calls to disqualify him, maintaining that his candidacy remains valid.

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