NDC Threatens Legal Action Over Alleged Manipulation of Candidate List
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of removing some of its duly nominated candidates from the list published for the 2027 State Houses of Assembly elections and replacing them with names allegedly unknown to the party. Reacting to the list published on Sunday, NDC National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, described the development as a deliberate attempt to undermine the party ahead of the 2027 general elections. He said the party was particularly concerned about nine names published as its candidates in various constituencies in Anambra State, the home state of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi. According to him, the affected names were neither authorised nor submitted by the party following its primaries and appeal process. The NDC chairman said party stakeholders, its leadership, representatives of its presidential candidate and the appeals panel had produced and signed off on a final list, which was subsequently uploaded to the INEC portal using the code issued to the party.
Zuwoghe alleged that INEC officials kept nine of the party's submitted names on “Pending” status, claiming that the commission already had different names submitted by its officials who monitored the NDC primaries. He further alleged that INEC later obtained Form EC-9 directly from the disputed candidates, bypassing the party, and subsequently published their names as authentic NDC candidates. The chairman called on INEC Chairman to immediately investigate the matter and extend the probe to other states, including Benue and Imo, where he said similar issues had been observed. He maintained that the development had caused embarrassment and confusion among party members and supporters, while alleging that opposition parties were being deliberately targeted. Zuwoghe said the NDC was conducting its own investigation and would approach a court of competent jurisdiction to challenge the list and seek the restoration of its authentic candidates. He urged the public and NDC supporters to disregard the disputed names, insisting that they were not candidates nominated by the party.
Benita Ibrahim
