INEC Rejects NDC Allegations of Candidate Substitution in Anambra, Benue

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has rejected allegations by the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, that it removed the party’s nominated candidates from some State House of Assembly constituencies in Anambra and Benue states and replaced them with unauthorised names.

 

INEC said its records showed that the disputed candidates were listed on Form EC9E submitted to the commission and duly signed by the NDC National Chairman and National Secretary.

 

The commission made the clarification in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna.

 

“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,” the statement said.

 

INEC maintained that candidate nomination was the exclusive responsibility of political parties and that it had no legal authority to select, insert or substitute candidates for any party.

 

“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,” it said.

 

The commission also clarified that its monitoring of party primaries was strictly an oversight function and did not give it the authority to impose candidates on political parties.

 

“Monitoring a party’s primary is a statutory oversight function only and confers no power on INEC to choose or impose a candidate,” INEC said.

 

According to the commission, all 22 registered political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections designated two technically trained officers to handle their candidate nomination processes following training organised by INEC.

 

It said portal access codes were subsequently issued directly and in person to the national chairmen of the parties.

 

INEC added that candidate lists were generated from submissions made by political parties and jointly signed by their national chairmen and national secretaries through the Form EC9 series.

 

The commission consequently dismissed the allegation that it independently uploaded or altered the NDC’s candidate information.

 

“Therefore any claim that the Commission independently uploaded or altered candidate information is unfounded and untrue,” it said.

 

The development followed allegations by the NDC that names of candidates it neither nominated nor authorised had been uploaded and published as its candidates for some State House of Assembly constituencies.

 

The party had identified several constituencies in Anambra State and alleged that a similar situation occurred in other states, including Benue and Imo.

 

NDC National Chairman, Moses Cleopas, called on the INEC Chairman to investigate how the disputed names appeared on the party’s candidate list.

 

“We call on the INEC chairman to urgently and immediately cause an investigation into the matter and unravel how this came to be,” the party said.

 

INEC said it remained committed to transparency, accountability and providing a level playing field for all stakeholders in the electoral process.