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NDC has no candidate in four states; PDP none in three
The governorship aspirations of former Communications Minister Isa Pantami, former House of Representatives member from Remo, Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) hopeful in Kano State, Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, appear to have gone up in smoke. ShopAfrican Art
Their names are missing from the final list of the candidates for next year’s elections published last night by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The commission gave no reason for the non -inclusion of their names but it is believed it has to do with issues surrounding the party members’ registration.
INEC National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Mohammed Haruna had said on Wednesday that nominees whose names were not in the party membership registers submitted to the commission would not be allowed to participate in the 2027 elections.
Haruna told Trust TV that the affected parties would not even be allowed to substitute their disqualified candidates.
Pantami and Adebutu , in their initial reactions to the non-inclusion of their names in the list, called for calm by their supporters. They said a solution would be found in due course, although Adebutu accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of engineering his ordeal.
Some of the candidates who made the final list are Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, Senator Adeola Olamilekun,the APC flagbearer in Ogun state, Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia, former Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami who is the ADC governorship candidate in Kebbi State, former Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda who is the APC candidate in River State and former Police Inspector General Mohammed Adamu,the Social Democratic Party governorship candidate in Nasarawa State.
A breakdown of the candidates’ list shows that the APC is sponsoring candidates in all the 28 states where the governorship election will be held on February 6,while the ADC has candidates in 27 states.
The NDC has no governorship candidates in six states and PDP in three.
The list published by the commission and signed by Secretary to the commission, Rose Oriarian Anthony, indicate that the NDC is not sponsoring candidates in Ogun, Kano, Kebbi, Cross Rivers, Nasarawa and Kaduna, while the PDP has no candidates in Ogun, Kebbi and Gombe.
The commission said the name of the ADC governorship candidate in Ogun State, Jimi Lawal was included on the order of the court.
The list of candidates for state Houses of Assembly in the 36 states was also published by the commission on its website last night.
The list shows that 15 political parties will be contesting the governorship elections in Abia state, 13 in Ogun, 17 in Lagos, 17 in Kano, 16 in Zamfara, 13 in Yobe, 19 in Taraba, 17 in Sokoto, 17 in Plateau, 12 in Kwara, 14 in Kebbi, 11 in Katsina, 16 in Kaduna, 13 in Jigawa, 16 in Gombe, 16 in Enugu, 13 in Borno, 12 in Benue, 15 in Bauchi, 20 in Akwa Ibom and 18 in Adamawa.
Nineteen parties are fielding governorship candidates in Rivers State, 16 in Oyo, eight in Cross Rivers, 12 in Ebonyi and 13 in Nasarawa, 18 in Delta and 16 in Niger State.
Observers said last night that the exclusion of the NDC from the Kano State governorship race is a major setback for the party, its presidential running mate, Dr.Rabiu Kwankwaso, who is determined to use the election to test his strength in the state.
Alhaji Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo who was nominated by the party had resigned as deputy governor of the state after declining to join his principal, Governor Abba Yusuf to switch camps to the APC from Kwankwanso’s former party, the NNPP.
Lagos State governorship candidates
1. Sowore Otitoloju Robert -A
2. Salawu Kamarudeed – AA
3. Solnuyi Oluwadamola Adesoga -AAC
4. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour – ADC
5. Bolaji Nasir Adewale – ADP
6. Hamzat Kadir Obafemi – APC
7. Adeoye Adelaja Azeez – APM
8. Adeyemi Abiola – APP
9. Odunaike Olurotimi – LP
10. Doherty Olufunso Adesina – NDC
11. Obadia Akinola – NDP
12.Onifade Ademoyegun Taiwo – NNPP
13. Onigbokun Ademola Joseph – NRM
14. Doherty Adedeji Olugbemiga – PDP
15. Olaniyi Olufemi SDP
16.Taiwo Temitope Elihaj – YPP
Kano governorship candidates
1. GASHASH MUKHTAR — A
2. HARUNA ABDULLAHI — AA
3. SHARIF ABBA — AAC
4. IBRAHIM ALI AMIN — ADC
5. MUHAMMAD ABDULLAHI — ADP
6. YUSUF ABBA KABIR — APC
7. TIJJANI SUKAIRAJU TIJJANI — APGA
8. MUHAMMAD BASHIR GALADANCHI — APM
9. TUKUR ALIYU MALAM — APP
10. AHMAD FURERA — BP
11. BARI MUSTAPHA BELLO — DLA
12. SANTURAKI HAMISU — LP
13. ABDULLAHI MUSTAPHA — NDP
14. ABACHA MUHAMMED SANI — PDP
15. KOGUNA NASIRU HASSAN — PRP
16. HUSSAINI BELLO ADO — SDP
17. NUHU ISA — ZLP
Oyo State Governorship Candidates
1. ORIYOMI HAMZAT ABDULRAHMAN — A
2. OLADELE SAHEED — AAC
3. ADEGOKE TAOFEEK ADEGBOYEGA — ADC
4. OLATUNJI KUNLE JAMES — ADP
5. ALLI SHARAFADEEN ABIODUN — APC
6. SALAMI GBOLAGADE TAJUDEEN — APGA
7. ADEKANMBI ABIMBOLA — APM
8. TIJANI ISMAILA AKINBOYE — APP
9. KAREEM THOMPSON SOLA — LP
10. YUSUF AKIM ADEBOLA — NDC
11. TAIWO IBIYEMI OTEGBEYE — NDP
12. AFOLABI TAOFEEK ADEMOLA — NRM
13. GBOLARUMI HAZEEM OLA — PDP
14. YINUSA KAZEEM AYANDOYE — PRP
15. ADEYEMI IDOWU ADEDEJI — YPP
16. AZZAN WAHEED OLANREWAJU — ZLP
Pantami asks supporters to remain calm
Professor Pantami described the development as a temporary challenge and a “a normal part of the electoral process.”
He asked his supporters to remain calm.
He spoke through Professor Suleiman Mohammed Gombe who, in a statement on X, last night said: “Our attention has been drawn to the non-publication of the name of our candidate from the fresh primary election of 29th September, 2026, as ordered by the Federal High Court, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), CON, PhD, FCIIS, FBCS, FNCS, in the list released by INEC, and we understand the concerns this has raised among our teeming supporters in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Pantamiyya Movement across Gombe State and beyond.
“We wish to assure all our supporters to remain calm, steadfast, and hopeful. This is a temporary challenge and a normal part of the electoral process, not a final determination, in sha Allah.
“We are aware of the people working behind the scenes to frustrate good and responsible leadership in Gombe State, but our legal and liaison teams are already engaging with the relevant organs of the party and INEC to ensure full compliance and rectification within the window provided by law.
“By the grace of Allah, this matter will be resolved. We urge our supporters to continue their mobilisation and to remain focused on our collective ideology of service to humanity.
“The Pantamiyya Movement remains strong, united, and committed to the rescue and emancipation of our people. No distraction will derail our course, in sha Allah.”
Ogun PDP accuses APC, calls for calm
The Ogun State chapter of the PDP accused the APC of masterminding the non-inclusion of Adebutu’s name in the list.
Publicity Secretary of the party in the state, Kayode Adebayo asked the people of the state to remain calm, saying Adebutu’s name would be published by the commission in due course .
He said: “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) enjoins the good people of Ogun State to be calm and rest assured that our Governorship Candidate, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu’s name will be published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and he will emerge as the Governor of Ogun State in the 2027 General Elections.
“The public should be informed that the omission of our Candidate’s name in the INEC’s list is as a result of the undue pressure mounted by the ruling party on INEC out of fear of losing the election to our party.
“We state emphatically that our candidate, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, who has never left the Peoples Democratic Party at any time duly registered as a member of the party within the designated period of the digital registration with his party membership card printed, verified and submitted to INEC at the stipulated time.
“While we urge the good people of Ogun not to be perturbed nor distracted from our focus of voting out the APC, we remain resolute, unfazed and unwaveringly confident that our candidate is marching straight to a decisive victory in the Ogun 2027 Governorship election.
“No amount of desperate manipulation, political witch-hunts, or calculated distractions can alter the mandate of the people of Ogun State who are overwhelmingly eager for true leadership and positive change.
“Once again, we call on all our teeming supporters, party faithful, and the general public to remain steadfast, vigilant, and unintimidated as the unstoppable movement to rescue Ogun State and bring RELIEF to our people continues to gain momentum.”
The window for substitution of candidates for the governorship and state House of Assembly elections closed on Saturday, September 19, while the last day for the submission of nomination form (form EC 13A-E) closed on Saturday, September 26, 2026.
Mohammed Haruna, during his Trust TV interview said any party whose candidate is disqualified would not be allowed to substitute such candidates, because “it’s like you committed an offence. And then, you come and benefit from it.”
He recalled how the courts nullified the elections of candidates in Zamfara and Plateau states.
His words: “The parties, because they did the wrong thing, they thought they could now steal through the candidates.
“And the law was very clear. Once you do that kind of thing, you cannot benefit from it. You are benefiting from it, if you are able to substitute a candidate.
“All the candidates, all the way to the Houses of Assembly, we interviewed them. If their names are not on the party register, they were not members of the party at the time that they contested for those tickets.”
The Supreme Court, in a ruling on 24 September 2026,restored certain sections of the 2026 Electoral Act which the Court of Appeal had adjudged unconstitutional.
The ruling implies that only persons whose names are contained in the membership register submitted to INEC not later than 21 days before primaries, congresses or conventions are eligible to vote or be voted for; that a party shall not use any other register except the one submitted to INEC; that a party that fails to submit its register within time shall not be eligible to field a candidate; and that nomination shall be by direct primaries or consensus.
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