August 31, (THEWILL) — The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, have traded blame over alleged substitution of candidates in the latest publication of names of candidates for the governorship and Assembly polls in the 2027 election. While the party accused the Commission of altering the names of candidates it submitted for the Assembly poll, the Commission washed its hands of the allegations, saying that it had nothing to do with the alterations.
However, on Saturday, the party’s National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, raised concerns over Anambra State, the home state of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, alleging that the Commission published the names of 10 individuals who did not emerge from its nomination process as its candidates.
According to the party’s Senator Zuwoghe, on Sunday, the publication was not only embarrassing but serious and part of a grand plan to sabotage the party’s chances in the next year’s general election.
“The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, totally condemns the action of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and it’s officials over the uploading and publication of unauthorized names in various constituencies, principally in the Anambra State House of Assembly… where ten (10) names, unknown to the party; names not authorized by the party; names not sent by the party to INEC, in accordance with the law, have now been uploaded and published as candidates of the party,” Zuwoghe stated.
He identified the disputed names as Umennaajiego Jude Ezenwa for Onitsha South 1; Akpotue Obinna Chibuike for Onitsha South 2; Nwankwo Chiemerie for Orumba North; Maduagwu Eric K for Anaocha 1; Ngoebisi Obinna for Idemili North; Isintume Charles for Njikoka 1; Nwachukwu Nonso for Nnewi South; Okeke Ifeanyi Akunne for Nnewi South 2; Nnonyelu Samson E. for Ayamelum; and Azotani Chuks Francis for Dunukofia.
Zuwoghe said the party had conducted its primaries and appeal process before producing a final list signed by relevant stakeholders.
He alleged that after the list was uploaded to the INEC portal using the code issued to the party, nine disputed names were placed on “Pending” status because, according to him, INEC’s system already contained the names from submissions by officials who monitored the primaries.
“I, as Chairman of the Party and custodian of the code given to the NDC for the upload of our candidates, never uploaded those names, and I unequivocally state that the party did not also upload those nine names,” he said.
Zuwoghe further claimed that INEC collected Form EC-9 directly from the disputed candidates instead of going through the party.
“To further confirm that there was a predetermined effort on the part of INEC to impose the said nine candidates on the party, and embarrass both NDC and Mr. Peter Obi, INEC went behind the NDC to collect the Form EC-9 directly from the candidates, bypassing the party, and uploading same. It then went ahead to publish the controversial names as authentic candidates of the party,” he alleged.
He warned the Commission should not impose candidates on a political party where discrepancies exist between the party’s submissions and information obtained by its monitoring teams.
“At the very worst, INEC could have left us with no candidates for those positions, if they knew they were unwilling to engage us in addressing any perceived anomaly,” he said.
Apart from Anambra, where the party said “ it was a peculiar concern,” NDC alleged that scrutiny of the list shows that Benue and Imo were affected. He called on the INEC Chairman to investigate the matter as a matter of urgency.
“We call on the INEC Chairman to urgently and immediately cause an investigation into the matter and unravel how this came to be,” Zuwoghe stated.
The party also said its own preliminary investigation was pointing to possible involvement of some INEC officials.
“We, as a party, are also carrying out our own independent investigation, the preliminary findings of which are already pointing to the complicity of INEC officials in foisting names purporting to be our candidates, but who are not from us,” Zuwoghe added. The NDC vowed to challenge the publication in court.
“Even as we move to approach the court of competent jurisdiction to seek redress and restore our authentic candidates, the general public and our millions of supporters should note that these are not our candidates,” he said.
Responding to the allegations, the Commission dismissed allegations that it altered the NDC’s candidate list for the 2027 elections by replacing party nominees with names not authorised by the party. However, INEC said it neither selects candidates for parties nor has the legal power to replace nominees validly submitted by them.
The commission’s Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser to the Chairman, Adedayo Oketola, said candidate nomination remains the responsibility of political parties, subject to the Constitution, Electoral Act 2026 and relevant regulations. He urged the party to be more wary of making sweeping allegations and advised its leaders to take proper inventory of its chosen candidates.
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