It is confusion and anger in PDP and NDC camps!
The Independent National Electoral Commission has finally opened up on why big names like Oladipupo Adebutu of Ogun PDP, former Minister Isa Ali Pantami of Gombe PDP and others were dramatically omitted from the final list of governorship candidates released Saturday.
Supreme Court Judgment Nailed Them
According to a top INEC source last night, the Commission invoked the powerful September 24 Supreme Court judgment on the Electoral Act 2026 to wield the axe.
The apex court, in a seven-man panel led by Justice Adamu Jauro, had affirmed Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act, declaring them constitutional.
The law is clear and brutal: only members whose names are on a party’s electronic membership register submitted to INEC at least 21 days before primaries can contest. If your name is not in that register, you are out!
INEC said it rescreened provisional lists with party registers and discovered shocking infractions. The affected candidates were not found in the membership registers submitted by their own parties.
ALSO READ: Adebutu, Pantami, Gwarzo, La’ah vow to engage INEC over ballot’s omission
Defections, Negligence Cost Them
Four top candidates are affected: Pantami in Gombe, Adebutu in Ogun, Abdulsalam Gwarzo of NDC in Kano and Danjuma La’ah of NDC in Kaduna. SDP also claims four of its candidates were axed.
INEC source blasted politicians: “Many politicians are negligent. They did not meet conditions for eligibility. INEC decided to follow the law after Supreme Court judgment.”
Pantami had defected from APC to PDP after losing Gombe primary, La’ah defected to NDC. But they never ensured their names entered the electronic register within the statutory time.
Kaduna NDC chairman Mordecai Ibrahim blamed network failure during upload, saying multiple attempts caused name mix-up.
PDP Gives INEC 48-Hour Ultimatum
PDP is fuming. National Publicity Secretary Jungudo Haruna Mohammed said the party has written to INEC, giving 48 hours to explain or face legal war.
“It is shocking that after doing all required legally, our candidates will be omitted. If reasons are not convincing, we will explore all options,” he said on TVC.
Pantami’s legal team led by Ahmed Raji SAN also wrote INEC demanding immediate restoration, insisting his name was in Pantami Ward register, he won May 26 primary and again September 29 rerun monitored by INEC, after court nullified earlier primary.
But INEC insists: No register, no candidacy. The governorship election holds February 6, 2027 – and the battle has just begun!
