2027: INEC grants provisional clearance to Pantami, Gwarzo, rejects Adebutu’s petition
by The Eagle Online · The Eagle OnlineThe Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday took a final decision on the fate of candidates nominated by political parties for governorship and House of Assembly seats who were not initially cleared by the commission, Daily Trust reports.
The commission’s top officials, after series of meetings with its chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, cleared former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Kano State, Abdulsalam Gwarzo, to contest the 2027 elections.
The electoral 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 list of candidates.
INEC explained that the right of those cleared to contest is subject to the outcomes of pending court cases against them.
INEC had on 10th October, released a comprehensive list of governorship and House of Assembly candidates cleared to contest on the platforms of various political parties in the 2027 elections but had omitted the names of those whose circumstances for emerging were not clear due to either having contested on the platforms of other parties before defecting to the ones that nominated them, or it was not clear if at the time of their defections, their parties had submitted their voters registers to the electoral commission as statutorily required.
The commission, however, gave a window of 14 days to those omitted to forward their petitions to the commission for possible review.
After the close of submission on the 24th, in which all the affected filed their petitions, INEC promised to come up with a final decision on the petitions on the 29th. And after a meeting which lasted for over six hours on Thursday, it declared that some of the candidates have been cleared.
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A competent source at INEC, who spoke to Daily Trust after the commission’s meeting on Thursday, said the commission received 69 petitions from political parties concerning omitted candidates for governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.
The source said about 36 petitions were successful, while the others failed.
“We received a total of 69 petitions from political parties. Some of the successful ones, I think about 36, and the rest didn’t succeed,” the source said.
The source, however, said the commission was still awaiting the final figures from its legal department. On Pantami and Gwarzo, the source said the commission had no objection to their candidacy, but noted that the pending court cases could affect their eligibility.
“Yes, Pantami has been cleared,” the source said when asked about the PDP candidate in Gombe State.
On Gwarzo, the source said his clearance remained subject to the outcome of the litigation involving his candidacy.
“Because of the court case, the court may rule otherwise. So his approval is subject to whatever the court finally decides,” the source said.
The official added that the commission had no issues with either candidate contesting the election.
“We have no issues with them contesting as candidates,” the source said.
On Adebutu’s, the source said, “He did not succeed.”
The decisions followed complaints by candidates and political parties after INEC omitted their names from the lists published ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Pantami and Gwarzo were among the prominent governorship candidates whose names were missing from the commission’s list released in October.
INEC had attributed the omissions to alleged non-compliance by some political parties with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026, requiring parties to submit their membership registers.
The commission said its position followed a September 24, 2026, Supreme Court judgement affirming the constitutionality of Section 77(5) to (7) of the Electoral Act, which makes the submission of membership registers mandatory.
Gwarzo had approached the court to challenge the omission of his name and that of his running mate, Rabiu Mustapha, from the list of governorship candidates for Kano State.
In an originating summons dated October 20, 2026, he asked the court to declare their exclusion unlawful and compel INEC to recognise them as the NDC’s governorship candidates.
Pantami’s candidacy has also been the subject of litigation, with the INEC source noting that a court proceeding was expected on Friday.
Meanwhile, Adebutu had questioned his exclusion from the final list of governorship candidates in Ogun State, insisting that he remained a registered member of the PDP and had complied with the party’s membership registration requirements.
Daily Trust gathered that INEC will issue a formal statement on the outcome of the review.
It was not clear as at press time if the Kaduna NDC governorship candidate, Senator Danjuma Laah and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate for Benue State, Sebastine Hon had been cleared.
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