2027: NDC rejects INEC’s explanation, asks commission to explain source of Anambra candidates’ list

The disagreement between the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the nomination of 10 candidates for various State House of Assembly constituencies in Anambra State has deepened as the party rejected the commission’s explanation on how the candidates’ names appeared on its portal.

The NDC had accused INEC of “smuggling” the names of 10 people it said were not its approved candidates into the commission’s portal and publishing them as the party’s candidates for the 2027 elections.

But INEC denied the allegation, saying the names were contained in EC9E forms duly submitted to the commission and signed by the NDC’s national chairman and national secretary.

The commission said political parties have the exclusive responsibility for nominating and submitting candidates and that it had no legal authority to select, insert or substitute candidates for any party.

INEC also explained that the login details for its portal were sent exclusively to the party’s chairperson for uploading the candidates’ details.

However, in its latest response, signed by its spokesperson, Agada Theophilus, the NDC disputed INEC’s claim and challenged the commission to explain how it obtained the EC9E forms for the 10 candidates if, as the party insists, it did not submit them.

The statement said the NDC submitted the names of the 10 candidates who emerged from its appeal process through the INEC portal, but the commission rejected them.

Meanwhile, INEC said it had in its possession an EC9E form containing the names of the 10 candidates in dispute and that the document was duly signed by the NDC’s national chairman and national secretary.

But the party questioned how INEC could have obtained the completed EC9E forms for the 10 candidates when the party neither collected nor submitted them.

“The Commission should explain to the general public how it obtained the EC9E forms for these 10 candidates when the party did not submit any of them in the first place,” it said.

“Since the NDC neither collected nor submitted the completed EC9E forms of the 10 Anambra candidates published by INEC, how did the Commission obtain their credentials when it is the party’s legal duty to submit the names of its approved candidates?” the NDC asked.

The party also called on INEC to conduct an electronic audit trail of its nomination portal to establish how the 10 candidates were uploaded.

“The Nigeria Democratic Congress did not submit the EC9E forms of the 10 published Anambra candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,” the statement read in part.

Background

The NDC National Chairman, Moses Zuwoghe, had alleged that 10 names published by INEC as NDC candidates in Anambra State were unknown to the party and had not been submitted by its leadership.

Mr Zuwoghe said the party had submitted the names of its candidates that emerged from its primary and appeal processes through the INEC nomination portal.

He alleged that while the party’s approved candidates were submitted through the portal, some were left in “pending” status.

The NDC subsequently accused the commission of bypassing its leadership to obtain EC9E forms directly from some of the affected candidates and publishing their names as the party’s candidates.

The party said it was investigating the matter and threatened to seek legal redress to have the candidates it described as “imposters” removed from the list.

But INEC rejected the allegations, saying the names published were based on information submitted by the NDC through the prescribed nomination process.

In a statement by its spokesperson, Mohammed Haruna, INEC said candidate nomination was exclusively the responsibility of political parties.

“Candidate 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,” the commission said.

It said the portal access codes were issued directly to the national chairpersons of the parties and not to proxies.

It said candidate lists submitted through the portal were generated from EC9E forms jointly signed by the national chairpersons and national secretaries of the respective parties.

The commission said it had in its possession an EC9E form containing the names of the 10 candidates in dispute and that the document was duly signed by the NDC’s national chairman and national secretary.

“As 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,” INEC’s statement said.