2027: INEC Gives Pantami, Adebutu, Other Missing Candidates Grace Period 

By Molayo Anjorin

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has given political parties till October 24 to challenge the omission of their candidates from the 2027 governorship election lists for failure to comply with statutory requirements for submission of membership registers.

The commission made the announcement on Tuesday with a signed statement by Mohammed Kudu Haruna, National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee.

INEC stated that the omissions in the governors’ candidates list were in compliance with the Supreme Court’s judgment on INEC v. Zenith Labour Party delivered on 24 September 2026, upholding the provision in the Electoral Act, 2026 which provides that all registered political parties shall submit their membership register within a specified period.

The judgment, the commission stated, affirmed the validity of its schedule for collecting the registers from the parties between April 21 and May 10, 2026 and held that non-submission of the registers would bar the sponsoring of candidates in the elections.

INEC stated that it acted in accordance with the judgment in finalising the lists of candidates for the governorships, saying it was mandated by Section 287 (1) of the 1999 Constitution to enforce court rulings.

Among those whose names were omitted from the lists are Isa Pantami, who emerged winner of court-ordered rerun of Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) governorship primary in Gombe State and Ladi Adebutu, the PDP governorship aspirant in Ogun State.

The omissions have raised controversy with the Ogun PDP alleging that the All Progressives Congress (APC) ruling party manipulated INEC to take the action while human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong asked the commission to prove that it was not biased.

INEC however, stood by its decision, saying it acted in accordance with the Supreme Court’s judgment and the Electoral Act, 2026.

In its statement, INEC reminded the political parties that it published the final list of presidential and National Assembly candidates on 12 and 13 September 2026, respectively when the court’s judgment was in the pipeline.

However, acting on Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026, INEC asked the affected political parties to submit their complaints in writing by 24th October, 2026.

“The deadline is 24th October, 2026,” the statement read.

INEC declared its commitment to the objectivity of conducting free and fair elections.