2027: Unease As INEC Publishes Final Guber Candidate List Today
•••As the commission is set to review the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed the constitutionality of section 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026
By Matthias Ogbagah & Prayer Okeoghene (I.T Student)
Barely last-minute, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will publish the final list of governorship candidates today.
The Rainbow Newspaper authoritatively report that there is growing anxiety in the camp of some governorship candidates as the commission is set to review the recent Supreme Court judgment that affirmed the constitutionality of section 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, at a world press conference on Tuesday to mark the 100 days to the 2027 general election, confirmed that the final list would be published on Saturday, October 10, 2026.
The commission had, on August 29, published personal particulars of the candidates in its state offices across the country for verification by members of the public.
He disclosed that all 112 formal complaints it received from former aspirants, candidates, and parties regarding the nomination process had been investigated and resolved except those pending in court.
Prof. Amupitan stated that the commission would review the recent Supreme Court judgment that affirmed the constitutionality of section 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026 and, as well, upheld INEC’s Revised Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2027 general election.
On September 24, a Federal High Court sitting in Gombe nullified the governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that elected former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isah Pantami, as its candidate, and ordered a fresh primary.
Dr Pantami contested the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary and lost before defecting to the PDP. He also won the repeat governorship primary despite a warning from his challenger to the party that he might be disqualified because his name was not in the PDP membership register submitted to INEC.
There is also the case of Kingsley Chinda, whose nomination as APC governorship candidate in Rivers State is still generating controversy.
Chinda’s resignation from the PDP and subsequently as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives before becoming an APC candidate is still generating debates.
Section 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026 requires political parties to submit their membership register 21 days before their primaries for the election of candidates.
