The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of replacing some of its nominated candidates with names allegedly not authorised by the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
National Chairman of the NDC, Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, made the allegation in a statement on Sunday following INEC’s publication of candidates for the 2027 State Houses of Assembly elections.
Cleopas expressed concern over the names published under the NDC, particularly in Anambra State, describing the development as capable of undermining the party and creating confusion among its supporters.
According to him, the party identified nine persons whose names were allegedly neither authorised nor submitted by the NDC but appeared on INEC’s list as its candidates in various constituencies.
He called on the INEC Chairman to investigate how the disputed names found their way onto the commission’s list.
The NDC chairman also urged the electoral commission to examine similar complaints in Benue and Imo states, where he said the party had observed what he described as a comparable pattern.
The party identified the following persons as names allegedly published by INEC as its candidates in Anambra State:
- Onitsha South 1: Umennaajiego Jude Ezenwa
- Onitsha South 2: Akpotue Obinna Chibuike
- Orumba North: Nwankwo Chiemerie
- Anaocha 1: Maduagwu Eric K
- Idemili North: Ngoebisi Obinna
- Njikoka 1: Isintume Charles
- Nnewi South: Nwachukwu Nonso
- Nnewi South 2: Okeke Ifeanyi Akunne
- Ayamelum: Nnonyelu Samson E
- Dunukofia: Azotani Chuks Francis
Cleopas said the publication had embarrassed the party, its leadership and candidates it described as legitimate, while also causing disaffection among supporters within Nigeria and abroad.
“We, as a party, are also carrying out our own independent investigation, the preliminary findings of which are already pointing to the complicity of INEC officials in foisting names purporting to be our candidates, but who are not from us,” he alleged.
The NDC chairman explained that the disputed development occurred after the party had concluded its primaries and appeal process.
According to him, representatives from Anambra, the NDC leadership, representatives of Peter Obi and members of the appeals panel had subsequently agreed on a final list of candidates.
He said the list was endorsed by the relevant stakeholders before being uploaded to the INEC portal using the access code supplied to the party by the electoral commission.
Cleopas alleged, however, that INEC officials subsequently left nine positions on “Pending” status.
He said the commission claimed the disputed names were already in its system based on submissions allegedly made by officials who monitored the party’s primaries.
According to him, the NDC challenged the names and submitted the details of candidates it maintained had been legitimately nominated.
He alleged that INEC nevertheless failed to replace the disputed names.
Cleopas further alleged that INEC later collected Form EC-9 directly from the individuals whose candidacies were disputed.
He claimed the forms were subsequently uploaded without going through the NDC.
“To further confirm that there was a predetermined effort on the part of INEC to impose the said nine candidates on the party, and embarrass both NDC and Mr. Peter Obi, INEC went behind the NDC to collect the Form EC-9 directly from the candidates, bypassing the party, and uploading same,” he alleged.
The NDC chairman argued that where discrepancies existed between a party’s submitted list and information obtained by INEC monitoring teams, the affected positions should have been left vacant until the matter was clarified.
“At the very worst, INEC could have left us with no candidates for those positions, if they knew they were unwilling to engage us in addressing any perceived anomaly,” he said.
Cleopas accused INEC of establishing a pattern in which opposition parties were allegedly prevented from uploading their preferred candidates while other names were introduced into their candidate lists.
He said the NDC would not accept the development and would pursue the matter through available legal channels.
The party chairman said the NDC would approach a court of competent jurisdiction to seek redress and have what it described as its authentic candidates restored.
“We are moving to approach the court of competent jurisdiction to seek redress and restore our authentic candidates,” he said.
Cleopas also urged the party’s supporters and the wider public to disregard the disputed names, insisting that they were not candidates nominated by the NDC.
