INEC Makes U-Turn, Clears Pantami, Gwarzo for 2027 Polls

•Approves 41 of 69 governorship petitions, 25 of 61 State Assembly appeals

•Gwarzo’s clearance hangs on final court verdict as Adebutu’s appeal rejected

•Commision deletes wrongly listed candidates after membership register checks

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reversed its earlier exclusion of former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Kano State, Abdulsalam Gwarzo, clearing both to contest the 2027 elections, subject to the outcome of pending court cases.

The commission, however, rejected a petition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, seeking a review of his exclusion from the final list of candidates.

The decisions followed INEC’s review of complaints arising from the final lists of governorship and State Houses of Assembly candidates published on October 10, 2026.

In a statement issued on Thursday by the Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, the commission said the complaints covered omitted political parties, candidates whose names were allegedly wrongly excluded, candidates whose names appeared on lists despite not being in their parties’ membership registers, and cases of alleged multiple nominations.

INEC said it found merit in some of the complaints and consequently approved the inclusion of affected candidates and political parties. It also declined petitions that failed to meet the applicable legal requirements.

The commission’s formal figures differed from preliminary reports that emerged after its meeting on Thursday. While the earlier reports indicated that INEC had received 69 petitions and approved about 36, the commission clarified that the 69 petitions related only to governorship candidates.

According to INEC, 69 governorship petitions were received from 12 political parties across 26 states. Forty-one were successful, while 28 failed.

For the State Houses of Assembly elections, the commission received another 61 petitions from 11 political parties across 11 states. Twenty-five succeeded, while 36 were rejected.

This brought the total number of petitions considered by the commission to 130, with 66 succeeding and 64 failing.

Pantami, whose name was omitted from the final list of governorship candidates for Gombe State, is now cleared to contest on the platform of the PDP.

His exclusion had generated controversy after he emerged from a court-ordered rerun of the party’s governorship primary on September 29. H

is legal team subsequently challenged his omission and demanded that INEC restore his name to the list.

Gwarzo has also been cleared as the NDC governorship candidate in Kano State. However, his clearance remains subject to the final determination of a pending court case challenging his exclusion.

The Kano candidate had approached the court after INEC omitted his name and that of his running mate from the final list. His case therefore remains capable of affecting his eligibility despite Thursday’s decision by the electoral commission.

Adebutu, however, failed to secure a similar reversal. His petition seeking the restoration of his name as the PDP governorship candidate in Ogun State was rejected by INEC.

The commission’s review was triggered by complaints lodged after the publication of the final candidate lists.

INEC had earlier said the disputed exclusions were linked to provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 concerning the submission of political party membership registers.

The issue became particularly contentious following a September 24, 2026 Supreme Court judgment affirming the constitutionality of provisions requiring political parties to submit their membership registers to INEC.

The commission said its latest decisions were based on a review of the complaints, relevant records and applicable legal provisions.

It also disclosed that the exercise would not only restore names omitted from the final lists but would remove some candidates who were wrongly included.

“Some names that were wrongfully published in the final list were removed after verifying that their names were not on the register,” INEC said.

The commission further approved the removal of candidates whose nominations were found to be inconsistent with applicable legal requirements.

It said the decisions affecting State Houses of Assembly candidates sponsored by political parties were based on specific complaints and determined according to the law and its established criteria.

INEC said the affected candidates, political parties and states would be reflected in an updated list to be published on its website.

The latest decision is expected to settle some of the uncertainty surrounding the 2027 governorship contests, although the pending court cases involving some candidates mean that their positions are not yet beyond legal challenge.

The 2027 governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections are scheduled for February 6, 2027.