By Emmanuel Thomas l Wednesday, Oct 14, 2026
ABUJA — The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has provided official clarification regarding the omission of several governorship candidates from the recently published list for the upcoming 2027 Governorship Elections, establishing an October 24, 2026 deadline for aggrieved political parties to seek administrative correction.
In an official statement released by Mallam Mohammed Kaduna Haruna, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, the electoral umpire explained that statutory windows remain open under the law to address genuine omissions.
According to the Commission, political parties that hold legitimate grounds to believe their duly nominated candidates were excluded in error must officially notify the electoral body within two weeks.
”Under Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties that believe their candidates were wrongly left off the list have 14 days from the date of publication to notify the commission,” Haruna stated. “The deadline is 24th October 2026.”
The National Commissioner reaffirmed that the Commission remains fully devoted to maintaining public trust as the political calendar unfolds.
”The commission assures the public of its commitment to transparency, the rule of law, and the credibility of the Electoral process,” Haruna added.
The clarification follows heightened public interest and political tension surrounding the exclusion of major political figures and candidate nominees from the provisional lists released across various state constituencies ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The publication of electoral candidates under the updated legal framework governed by the Electoral Act 2026 requires strict compliance with party primary procedures, early submission of digital membership registers, and judicial pronouncements from higher courts on pre-election litigation.
Section 32 of the Electoral Act 2026 empowers INEC to publish the personal particulars of candidates submitted by political parties while providing a statutory grace period (14 days) for political parties to point out clerical, procedural, or administrative omissions prior to final candidate certification.
Parties failing to lodge formal notifications by October 24, 2026, risk forfeiting the opportunity to rectify candidate details on the official ballot paper.
