By Samuel Nworah, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is facing renewed legal scrutiny over the omission of some candidates from its lists for the 2027 elections, with constitutional lawyers and political actors divided over the extent of the commission’s authority to exclude candidates.
The controversy centres on whether INEC can selectively omit individual candidates after applying legal requirements governing political parties, particularly rules concerning the submission of party membership registers.
Constitutional lawyer Monday Mawah has questioned the commission’s interpretation of the law. Speaking during a television programme, Mawah argued that neither the 1999 Constitution nor the Electoral Act gives INEC a general power to selectively disqualify individual candidates from an election list.
He maintained that where a political party fails to meet statutory requirements, the legal consequences should be applied in accordance with the relevant provisions rather than through what he described as selective exclusion of individual candidates.
Mawah’s argument comes against the backdrop of a September 24 Supreme Court judgment involving INEC and the Zenith Labour Party. INEC subsequently said the court upheld the constitutionality of provisions in the Electoral Act, 2026 requiring political parties to submit their membership registers within the stipulated period.
According to INEC, the Supreme Court’s decision meant that political parties which failed to comply with the membership-register requirements were ineligible to sponsor candidates.
The commission said it relied on the judgment and Section 287(1) of the Constitution, which requires authorities to give effect to decisions of the courts, when finalising the governorship candidates’ list.
INEC also explained that the final lists of presidential and National Assembly candidates had already been published on September 12, 2026 — 13 days before the Supreme Court judgment.
The commission therefore distinguished those lists from the governorship lists that were being finalised after the court ruling.
The controversy nevertheless persisted, particularly over cases involving individual candidates whose names were omitted. INEC had earlier given political parties until October 24 to notify the commission of alleged errors or wrongful omissions, in accordance with Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026.
The issue has now entered another phase. INEC published updated lists of candidates on October 31, including an updated presidential list, an updated list for the January 2027 National Assembly elections and an updated final list for the governorship elections.
The commission has also published an official clarification concerning the omission of some candidates.
The political atmosphere surrounding the 2027 election has also become increasingly charged.
In Sokoto State, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have traded accusations over an alleged confrontation involving the convoy of ADC governorship candidate Manir Muhammad Dan’iya near the Sokoto Airport on October 30.
Dan’iya alleged that personnel of the state-owned Marshal and Community Guard blocked his convoy and that gunshots were fired during the confrontation. He also alleged that two Department of State Services personnel attached to his security team were detained.
The APC, however, rejected the allegations as fabricated and accused the ADC candidate of seeking public sympathy and attempting to discredit the state government.
The claims have not been independently established.
At the national level, the question of regional power rotation has also become part of the increasingly intense political debate ahead of 2027.
On November 1, a presidential aide, Rahma Abdulmajid, called on Northerners to respect what she described as an unwritten North-South power rotation arrangement and allow the South to complete its current eight-year presidential tenure.
Her comments echoed earlier statements by Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, who has similarly argued that the North should wait until 2031 before seeking a return to the presidency.
The power-rotation issue, however, remains a political understanding rather than a constitutional requirement, and competing political actors have different views about its status and relevance to the 2027 election.
With candidate lists still being updated and political parties continuing to challenge some omissions, the controversy over INEC’s role is likely to remain part of the wider debate about the credibility, legality and transparency of the 2027 electoral process.
For INEC, the challenge will be not only to apply the law but also to ensure that its decisions are clearly explained and consistently applied, particularly where the eligibility of individual candidates is contested.
