Former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, and former Ogun State governorship candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu, are challenging their exclusion from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) final list of candidates for the 2027 governorship elections.

The dispute follows the expiration on 24 October of INEC’s deadline for political parties to report discrepancies in the published candidate lists. Pantami, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in Gombe State, and Adebutu were absent from the list. Aminu Gwarzo, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Kano State, was also excluded.

INEC’s decision was linked to a Supreme Court judgment delivered on 24 September concerning compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 on political party membership registers and internal electoral processes. The commission said it applied the court’s ruling when compiling the candidate list.

The affected parties have disputed the exclusions, maintaining that they complied with the requirements for nominating their candidates. The PDP has challenged the omission of Pantami and Adebutu, while the NDC has protested the exclusion of Gwarzo and his running mate, Mustapha Rabiu Kwankwaso.

On 15 October, the PDP filed an affidavit at the Federal High Court registry in Abuja challenging the exclusion of its two candidates. The party has also engaged INEC over the matter as it considers the available legal options.

Pantami emerged as the PDP’s governorship candidate in Gombe after a fresh primary held on 29 September, following a court order for the party to conduct another primary. His name had appeared on INEC’s provisional list published in August but was missing from the final version.

In Ogun, Adebutu’s omission leaves the PDP without a listed governorship candidate in the state. The party has rejected concerns over his membership registration and maintains that it complied with the requirements for submitting its membership register to INEC.

The NDC has also asked INEC to address the exclusion of its candidates in Kano. Reports published before the deadline indicated that the party had written to the commission and received acknowledgements of its correspondence but had yet to receive a substantive response.

The disputes have intensified scrutiny of INEC’s handling of candidate nominations ahead of the governorship elections scheduled for 6 February 2027. The National Association of Achievers Movement has called on the commission to explain the exclusions and clarify the criteria used to compile the lists, saying its demand is for transparency rather than automatic reinstatement of the affected candidates.

The next steps will depend on the parties’ legal challenges and INEC’s response. Until the disputes are resolved, the affected politicians’ status in the 2027 governorship contests remains subject to the outcome of those proceedings.

© 2026 Aliu Azeema |

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