INEC rejects Jonathan’s nomination as PDP faction insists on manual submission

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected the presidential nomination of former President Goodluck Jonathan submitted by the Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), insisting that candidate nominations can only be made through its designated electronic portal.

 

The development follows the Turaki faction’s claim that it manually submitted Jonathan’s nomination and the names of its other candidates for the 2027 general elections despite the commission’s refusal to recognise its leadership.

 

INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, said the commission would not accept nominations submitted outside the prescribed procedure.

 

“Submission is only done on a dedicated portal as stipulated by our regulations and guidelines,” she said.

 

However, the faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, maintained that the party complied with the Electoral Act by submitting its candidates manually after INEC allegedly refused to provide access codes required for electronic submission.

 

“Notwithstanding INEC’s refusal to provide us with the necessary access codes, we have successfully submitted, manually and in full compliance with the Electoral Act 2026, the list of candidates sponsored by the authentic Peoples Democratic Party,” Ememobong said.

 

He said the submission included Jonathan’s presidential nomination as well as the names of the faction’s governorship, National Assembly and state assembly candidates, adding that INEC acknowledged receipt of the documents.

 

Ememobong warned the commission against publishing any list different from the one submitted by the faction.

 

“Should the Commission publish names other than those lawfully submitted by us, we are exhausting every constitutional, legal and democratic avenue to ensure that our party is not hijacked or annexed to the ruling party,” he said.

 

The PDP faction traced the leadership dispute to a Supreme Court judgment, arguing that the party’s Board of Trustees and a requisitioned National Executive Committee meeting lawfully constituted the Interim National Working Committee after the ruling left the PDP without a recognised national leadership.

 

According to Ememobong, INEC’s refusal to recognise the interim leadership forced the party to seek judicial intervention.

 

He also criticised a subsequent Federal High Court judgment, describing it as inconsistent with earlier decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.

 

“The judgment reads more like an appeal on the judgment of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. It is clearly inconsistent with the extant decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal that form the foundation of our case,” he said.

 

He disclosed that the faction had appealed the judgment and would also challenge alleged discrepancies between the court’s ruling and its Certified True Copy.

 

Ememobong further accused INEC of compromising its neutrality by withholding material facts in court proceedings and ignoring congresses it had monitored.

 

“The Commission’s actions have regrettably reinforced the growing public perception that it is no longer acting with the impartiality expected of the nation’s electoral umpire,” he said.

 

He alleged that the PDP was the first victim of a broader effort to weaken opposition parties and establish one-party dominance.

 

“We were the pioneer target for opposition dismantling and capture, but it has now spread to almost all the opposition parties,” Ememobong said, urging Nigerians to defend multi-party democracy.