2027 Elections: INEC Upholds 66 Petitions, Rejects 64 in Candidate-List Review

• INEC has upheld 66 petitions and rejected 64 after reviewing complaints over its 2027 governorship and state assembly candidate lists, approving some inclusions and removing wrongly listed names.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has upheld 66 petitions challenging its candidate lists for the 2027 governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections, while rejecting 64 others.

The decisions followed a review of 130 complaints concerning omissions, wrongful inclusions and alleged multiple nominations.

INEC announced the outcome in a statement issued on Thursday, October 29, 2026, by Mohammed Kudu Haruna, Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee.

The commission said the review resulted in the approval of some candidates and political parties for inclusion, alongside the removal of names that had been wrongly published.

Governorship petitions account for 69 complaints

INEC received 69 petitions concerning governorship nominations from 12 political parties across 26 states.

Of those petitions, 41 succeeded, while 28 were rejected.

For the State Houses of Assembly elections, the commission considered 61 petitions submitted by 11 political parties across 11 states. Twenty-five were successful, while 36 were unsuccessful.

The figures represent petitions considered, rather than a confirmed count of individual candidates cleared or removed.

Why the candidate lists were reviewed

The complaints followed INEC’s publication of the final governorship and state assembly candidate lists on October 10, 2026.

According to the commission, the issues included the omission of political parties, the inclusion of candidates whose names were absent from membership registers submitted by their parties, and allegations of multiple nominations.

Haruna said INEC examined the complaints against its records and the applicable legal provisions before reaching its decisions.

Representations found to have merit resulted in approved inclusions, while complaints considered unsubstantiated were declined.

Some previously published names removed

The exercise also affected candidates whose names had appeared on the earlier lists.

INEC said verification established that some of those candidates were not included in the membership registers submitted by their political parties.

The commission consequently removed the affected names. It also approved removals where nominations failed to satisfy the applicable legal requirements.

This means the review involved both additions and removals, depending on the evidence considered in each complaint.

Updated lists to identify affected candidates

INEC said the affected candidates, political parties and states would be reflected in updated lists on its website.

The announcement of the petition totals did not individually identify every affected nominee. The revised lists will therefore be important for establishing the precise outcome for particular candidates and constituencies.

The commission reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and compliance with electoral requirements as preparations continue for the 2027 elections.