NOTWITHSTANDING the upload of the particulars of the different political parties on the portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), internal squabbles have continued to fester in the state chapters of political parties.
Investigations by our correspondents confirmed that crises have continued to rock state chapters of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Social Democratic Party (SP), as rival claimants to the governorship seats have emerged in some states.
Aside from the crisis rocking the APC chapters in Oyo, Kwara and Ondo States over the determination of gubernatorial and National Assembly candidates, the SDP, ADC and NDC have also been experiencing crises in different state chapters.
On Sunday, the National Chairman of the NDC, Moses Zuwoghe, accused the INEC of instigating crises in some of its state chapters by replacing candidate names with ‘unknown persons.’
Though the electoral commission has since denied the allegation, further crisis on Tuesday erupted in Oyo State chapters of the SDP and the ADC.
A protest was undertaken by some members of the ADC who denied Chief Adegboyega Adegoke as the governorship candidate of the party. INEC has since uploaded Adegboyega as the authentic ADC candidate.
Also in the Oyo State chapter of the Social Democratic Party (SP), a battle for the governorship seat erupted after the name of the governorship candidate was uploaded by the electoral commission.
According to INEC, Chief Michael Okunlade was the authentic governorship candidate whose name had been uploaded on the portal, while another candidate, Saheed Oladele, had laid claim to the ticket.
Oyo ADC members storm INEC office, reject Adegoke as guber candidate
Some members of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, in Oyo State under the auspices of ADC-Nigeria Must Survive, ADC-NMS, on Tuesday stormed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Agodi, Ibadan, to protest the upload of the name of Chief Adegboyega Adegoke as the party’s gubernatorial candidate.
The protesters during the protest said Adegoke was not accepted by members of the party.
Recall that the name of Adegoke was uploaded on the INEC portal amid an ongoing court case instituted by Dr. Gbemileke Alagbe, popularly known as Eleniyan.
The protesters, drawn from across the 33 local government areas of the state, marched with placards bearing inscriptions such as ‘Say No To Imposition In ADC Oyo, INEC, Obey 2026 Electoral Act’, ‘Our Mandate Is Not For Sale’ and ‘We Stand With Eleniyan and Aborisade.’
The party members during the protest submitted a petition to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Oyo State.
In the petition, the protesters demanded the immediate withdrawal of Adegoke’s name from the INEC portal pending the court’s decision in three weeks.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, the Oyo State Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Bimpe Adelowo, said the party was protesting against what she described as ‘shenanigans in the handling of Form EC9 of the candidate.’
The ADC member said that on May 23, 2026, the party conducted primary elections across the state. According to him, the National Organising Secretary, who is constitutionally empowered to conduct the primaries, performed the duty and duly notified INEC. A copy was also sent to the REC in Oyo State.
Adelowo alleged that the list later displayed by INEC was submitted through a hard-copy letter by national officials of the party, which she said was contrary to the Electoral Act.
He noted that the protest was meant to alert the commission and the public that the uploaded name did not reflect the choice of party members.
‘Since we are the legitimate structure recognised by INEC, we interfaced with them. INEC mobilised its officials to monitor both the National Assembly and governorship primaries and turned in their reports.
‘In the course of this, Dr. Gbemileke Alagbe emerged as the winner of that primary election. Other candidates also emerged, including Festus Adewale Adegoke for Oyo Central Senatorial District, Lukman Adetunji for Oyo South and Ahmed Solomon for Oyo North. All their names were filed with INEC, and the EOs of various local governments also filed their reports.
‘We don’t have factions. We are the legitimate structure recognised by the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal. It is just for everybody to comply with what the court says.
‘What INEC has on its portal is not the name of the authentic candidate of the party. It is a name forced on us. The members have rejected him. You cannot give us a candidate we did not choose,’ Adelowo said.
Receiving the petition, the Head of Department, Legal Services, Oyo INEC, Adeniyi Lawal, assured the protesters that their grievances would be communicated to the INEC headquarters in Abuja for necessary action.
Lawal added that primary elections are party affairs that must be resolved internally.
He, however, urged the aggrieved members to be patient and await the court judgment in three weeks, when the court will have the final say on who will be the candidate of the party.
Oyo SDP disowns ‘guber candidate’
The controversy over the governorship ticket of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Oyo State deepened on Tuesday as the state chairman of the party disowned a member of the party, Saheed Oladele, declaring that he is not the governorship candidate of the party for the 2027 election.
The state chairman, Hon. Michael Okunlade, who issued the disclaimer, said that Oladele was not recognised as the party’s candidate.
Okunlade, in a brief telephone interview with the Nigerian Tribune, described Oladele’s continued claim to the ticket as unacceptable, warning that the party could take legal action against him if he persisted.
He said: ‘Saheed Oladele is not the candidate of the SDP. If he continues to parade himself as the governorship candidate of the party, we will have no choice but to make him face the law.’
The chairman urged members of the public and political observers seeking clarification on the matter to verify the candidate recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
‘Let the public go to the INEC portal and verify who the candidate of the SDP is. That is the best way to establish the truth,’ Okunlade said.
Candidates’ lists: LP blames intra-party disputes on illegal substitution of names of winners
The Labour Party (LP) has, however, blamed some political parties for the internal disputes arising from the publication of the names of governorship and State Houses of Assembly candidates for the 2027 polls by INEC.
The party said on Tuesday that the crisis was caused by ‘illegal substitution of names.’
The National Publicity Secretary, Mr Ken Asogwa, who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune in an interview, said that the development seemed to stem from the illegal acts of party leaders who allegedly subverted the interest of the original winners.
He, however, said that the LP was free of such squabbles, as, according to him, the party did not engage in such practices.
He said: ‘The Labour Party has no internal dispute regarding the publication by the INEC of the lists of gubernatorial and State House of Assembly candidates.
‘Political parties that are currently embroiled in such disputes are those that engaged in the illegal substitution of candidates who emerged victorious from their respective party primaries.’
He added: ‘For the avoidance of doubt, the Labour Party has only a few issues concerning the non-publication of the names of candidates who were duly uploaded on the INEC portal.
‘The party is currently engaging the Commission with a view to resolving these issues.
‘We remain hopeful that the electoral body will give due consideration to our appeal and do justice to the affected candidates.’
SDP expresses satisfaction with INEC over list of governorship, state assembly candidates
The national secretariat of the SDP, however, said that it was satisfied with the upload of candidates for the governorship and House of Assembly on the INEC portal.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Rufus Ayenigba, who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja, declared that the Party was satisfied with the list across the States of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja.
According to him, our great Party, ‘the SDP has no issues with the list of our 2027 Governorship and State Assembly candidates as released by INEC.
He said: ‘The names of all our nominated candidates in the states were correctly listed as submitted by the Party.
‘There are no rumblings or crises in the state chapters of the SDP as a result of the list of candidates released by INEC’
NDC accuses INEC of complicity
The National Chairman of the NDC, Moses Zuwoghe, has, however, accused INEC of complicity in the substitution of names of its candidates.
He said: ‘The NDC, totally condemns the action of the INEC and its officials over the uploading and publication of unauthorised names in various constituencies, principally in the Anambra State House of Assembly, home state of our presidential candidate, Peter Obi, where 10 names unknown to the party; names not authorised by the party; names not sent by the party to INEC, in accordance with the law, have now been uploaded and published as candidates of the party.’
INEC to NDC: Your candidates’ substitution allegations are untrue
In a quick response to the NDC on Tuesday, the electoral commission, INEC, dismissed allegations by the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), insisting that it never smuggled’ nor substituted the party’s validly nominated candidates for State House of Assembly seats in Anambra and Benue States.
In a statement signed by Mohammed Kudu Haruna, Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), the Commission described the claims as ‘un-founded.’
‘The Commission has noted a statement by the leadership of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) alleging that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) removed the party’s validly nominated candidates for certain State House of Assembly constituencies in Anambra and Benue States and replaced them with unauthorised names. The Commission states that these allegations are unfounded,’ the statement said.
INEC said it has no legal power to select, insert or substitute candidates for any political party.
‘Candidate nomination is, by law, the exclusive responsibility of political parties. INEC has no legal authority to select, insert, or substitute a candidate for any party. Monitoring a party’s primary is a statutory oversight function only and confers no power on INEC to choose or impose a candidate,’ Haruna stated.
The Commission explained the process used for candidate nomination ahead of the 2027 elections.
‘Ahead of the 2027 election, all 22 registered parties designated two technically trained officers to handle their nomination process, following training organised by the Commission. Thereafter, the portal access codes were issued directly and in person to each party’s National Chairman, and not by proxy,’ it said
‘Lists of candidates were generated for each party as submitted by the party, jointly signed by the National Chairmen and National Secretaries of the party, submitting Form EC9 series (A-G). Therefore, any claim that the Commission independently uploaded or altered candidate information is unfounded and untrue.’
According to INEC, it has the NDCs duly signed nomination forms.
‘As a matter of fact, the Commission has in its possession Form EC9E where these candidates were listed and submitted to the Commission duly signed by the National Chairman and the National Secretary of the party,’ the statement added.
INEC reiterated its commitment to transparency and fairness ahead of the 2027 general election.