Governorship candidates omitted from the final list published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will have to wait a little longer to know their fate.
The electoral body excluded their names following the September 24 Supreme Court judgment which upheld the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.
It gave affected candidates until Saturday to submit their objections through their political parties.
Among the affected candidates are Oladipupo Adebutu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State; Isa Ali Pantami of the PDP in Gombe State; and Aminu Gwarzo of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) in Kano State.
The candidates are awaiting INEC’s decision on their appeals to know whether they will participate in next year’s governorship elections.
INEC’s Director of Information and Voter Education Victoria Eta-Mesi told our reporter yesterday that the commission would effect the necessary corrections but had yet to fix a date for the publication of the updated list.
She said: ‘All corrections submitted by other parties and candidates together with court orders are being effected and will be published once ready.
‘No date has been fixed for the publication.’
A high-ranking source within the commission said it was reviewing submissions by candidates and political parties and would consider each on its merit.
The source said: ‘The commission received complaints and will review them according to their merit and in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act and the Constitution.
‘Those who are in accordance with the law will be included while those who fail the legal test will not be part of the election.
‘Don’t forget some of the candidates and parties are also in court.
‘When the judgments are delivered the commission will review and comply accordingly.’
The commission’s position followed complaints by political parties and candidates whose names were omitted from the governorship and state Houses of Assembly lists.
The list for the National Assembly elections contained the names of candidates who may have violated the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 following the Supreme Court’s judgment on Section 77 of the Act.
However the names of some candidates were excluded from the governorship and state Houses of Assembly lists prompting protests from the affected parties and candidates.
INEC subsequently gave them until October 24 to submit their complaints for consideration.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) also wrote to the commission seeking the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment.
INEC said the corrections submitted by political parties and candidates alongside relevant court orders were being processed and would be published once ready.
Olawepo-Hashim’s name yet to be uploaded
The name of Olawepo-Hashim was yet to be uploaded to INEC’s website as Accord’s presidential candidate as of yesterday.
It was unclear why the commission had not uploaded his name despite a statement by INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan that the commission would respect the judgment and include him as the 19th presidential candidate for the January 16 election.
However it was gathered that the delay might be connected with an appeal filed by the party.
Accord National Chairman Maxwell Mgbudem told The Nation that the party had appealed the judgment but declined to give details of the appeal.