The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of replacing some of its duly nominated candidates for the 2027 State Houses of Assembly elections with persons unknown to the party.
The party specifically cited Anambra State, alleging that several names published by INEC as NDC candidates did not emerge from its nomination process.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, the National Chairman of the party, Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, described the development as a deliberate attempt to undermine the NDC ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Reacting to the list of candidates for the State Houses of Assembly elections published by INEC, Zuwoghe alleged that unauthorized names were uploaded and published in various constituencies, particularly in Anambra State, the home state of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
“The Nigeria Democratic Congress totally condemns the action of the Independent National Electoral Commission and its officials over the uploading and publication of unauthorized names in various constituencies, principally in the Anambra State House of Assembly,” he said.
According to him, the names published by INEC were neither authorized nor submitted by the party in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
He called on the Chairman of INEC to immediately investigate the matter and determine how the disputed names found their way onto the commission’s candidates’ portal.
The NDC chairman also urged the commission to extend the investigation to other states, including Benue and Imo, where the party claimed to have observed a similar pattern.
He said the development had embarrassed the party, its leadership and genuine candidates, while creating disaffection among supporters across the country and in the Diaspora.
Zuwoghe alleged that preliminary findings from the party’s internal investigation pointed to the involvement of some INEC officials in the publication of the disputed names.
He explained that after the conclusion of the party’s primaries and appeal process, stakeholders in Anambra State, working with the national leadership and representatives of the party’s presidential candidate, produced a final list of candidates which was uploaded to the INEC portal.
According to him, while most of the candidates were successfully uploaded, some names were placed on “pending” status because INEC claimed its system already contained different names allegedly submitted by officials who monitored the party’s primaries.
He said the party formally challenged the names and submitted the identities of what it considered the authentic candidates, but the commission failed to make the requested corrections.
The NDC chairman further alleged that INEC bypassed the party by collecting Form EC-9 directly from the disputed candidates before uploading and publishing them as NDC candidates.
“To further confirm that there was a predetermined effort on the part of INEC to impose the said candidates on the party, INEC went behind the NDC to collect the Form EC-9 directly from the candidates, bypassing the party,” he alleged.
Zuwoghe argued that the commission’s action was contrary to the Electoral Act and INEC’s own guidelines, insisting that the electoral body had no power to impose candidates on political parties.
He maintained that where discrepancies existed between names submitted by a party and reports from election monitors, INEC should have left the affected positions vacant rather than publish names not recognized by the party.
The NDC chairman expressed concern over what he described as a growing pattern of opposition parties being prevented from fielding their preferred candidates.
He vowed that the party would pursue the matter in court and ensure that its authentic candidates were restored.
“We will approach the court of competent jurisdiction to seek redress and restore our authentic candidates. The general public and our millions of supporters should note that these are not our candidates,” he said.
