{"id":129266,"date":"2026-09-02T04:38:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T03:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=129266"},"modified":"2026-09-02T04:38:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T03:38:27","slug":"2027-inec-rejects-ndcs-allegation-of-smuggled-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/2027-inec-rejects-ndcs-allegation-of-smuggled-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"2027: INEC Rejects NDC\u2019s Allegation of \u2018Smuggled\u2019 Candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>By Lizzy Chirkpi<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed allegations by the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) that it unlawfully removed the party\u2019s validly nominated candidates for some State House of Assembly constituencies in Anambra and Benue states and replaced them with unauthorised names.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Commission described the allegation as unfounded, insisting that political parties have the exclusive responsibility for nominating candidates, while INEC has no legal power to select, insert or substitute candidates on behalf of any party.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The controversy comes amid preparations for the 2027 general elections, as INEC and political parties undertake various stages of the candidate nomination and electoral process.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In a statement on Tuesday, Chairman of INEC\u2019s Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, said the Commission\u2019s role in party primaries was limited to statutory monitoring and did not extend to determining candidates for political parties.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cCandidate 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,\u201d Haruna said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Commission said its procedures for the 2027 candidate nomination process were designed to ensure that information uploaded to its portal originated from the political parties.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to Haruna, all 22 registered political parties designated two technically trained officers to manage their nomination processes after undergoing training organised by INEC.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He said access codes to the nomination portal were subsequently issued directly and in person to the national chairmen of the respective political parties, rather than through proxies.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Haruna further explained that candidate lists were generated from submissions made by each political party and jointly signed by the party\u2019s national chairman and national secretary through the relevant Form EC9 series.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cTherefore, any claim that the Commission independently uploaded or altered candidate information is unfounded and untrue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Commission specifically referred to its records on the disputed candidates in Anambra and Benue states, saying it had documentary evidence showing that the names were submitted by the NDC itself.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cAs 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,\u201d Haruna stated.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The NDC had alleged that some of its candidates who were validly nominated to contest State House of Assembly seats in the two states were removed from the electoral records and replaced with names it claimed had not been authorised by the party.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The allegation has raised questions about the integrity of the candidate nomination process, particularly the submission, verification and publication of candidates ahead of the 2027 elections.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">However, INEC rejected any suggestion that it could have independently manipulated the NDC\u2019s candidate list, stressing that the responsibility for selecting and submitting candidates rests with the political parties.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Commission also clarified that its statutory monitoring of party primaries does not give it the authority to determine who emerges as a party\u2019s candidate.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to INEC, its responsibility is to monitor compliance with the law and the parties\u2019 nomination processes, while the actual selection of candidates remains an internal responsibility of the political parties, subject to applicable legal provisions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Commission reaffirmed its commitment to transparency, accountability and a level playing field for all political parties and stakeholders in the electoral process.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It said it would continue to provide the necessary institutional framework for the conduct of credible elections ahead of the 2027 general elections.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Lizzy Chirkpi The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed allegations by the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) that it unlawfully removed the party\u2019s validly nominated candidates for some State&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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