INEC to Decide Fate of Pantami, Adebutu, Other Omitted Governorship Candidates on Thursday

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will consider the fate of former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, Ladi Adebutu and other politicians omitted from its final list of candidates for the February 6, 2027 governorship elections at its next meeting on Thursday.

 

INEC National Commissioner, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

 

Pantami is seeking the Gombe State governorship ticket on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while Adebutu is the party’s candidate for the Ogun State governorship election.

 

Their names were missing from the final list published by INEC on October 10, alongside those of Aminu Gwarzo, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Kano State, and Danjuma Laah, the party’s candidate in Kaduna State.

 

The commission also omitted the governorship candidates of the Social Democratic Party, New Nigeria People’s Party, Action Alliance and Accord in Bauchi State. The affected candidates are Abdullahi Yakubu, Musa Zubairu, Ahmed Shuaibu and Mohammed Aminu, respectively.

 

The exclusions triggered protests and legal moves by the affected politicians and their parties, with uncertainty persisting over whether the candidates would be reinstated.

 

“As for the final list of candidates, we will meet on it at our next commission meeting on Thursday,” Haruna said.

 

INEC had attributed the omissions to the failure of the affected political parties to submit their membership registers within the period prescribed by law.

 

The commission said its decision followed a Supreme Court judgment delivered on September 24, 2026, which upheld the constitutionality of Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026. The provisions require political parties to submit their membership registers to INEC before conducting valid primaries, congresses and conventions.

 

According to INEC, the Supreme Court affirmed the legality of its timetable requiring parties to submit their membership registers between April 21 and May 10, 2026.

 

“In particular, the court upheld the constitutionality of Item No. 2 of INEC’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities, which mandated political parties to submit their membership registers between 21st April and 10th May, 2026,” the commission stated.

 

INEC maintained that parties that failed to meet the requirement were ineligible to sponsor candidates in the elections.

 

The commission also cited Section 287(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which requires authorities to enforce decisions of competent courts, as part of the basis for applying the Supreme Court judgment to the final candidates’ list.

 

However, the affected parties have insisted that they complied with the relevant legal requirements and urged INEC to correct what they described as wrongful omissions.

 

PDP Challenges Exclusion of Pantami, Adebutu

 

The PDP has approached INEC over the exclusion of Pantami and Adebutu, while the party’s National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, deposed to an affidavit at the Federal High Court Registry in Abuja on October 15, challenging the omissions.

 

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mohammed Jungudo, said its leadership and the candidates’ legal teams were engaging the commission to resolve the dispute.

 

He added that legal action remained an option if INEC failed to address the matter.

 

In Ogun State, PDP leaders expressed confidence that Adebutu would be included in a revised list.

 

The state chairman of the party, Abayomi Tella, described the omission as an error and maintained that the party had fulfilled the legal requirements for Adebutu’s nomination.

 

“The party views the omission as an error by INEC; we are very confident and optimistic that INEC will restore the name because every requirement of the law has been fulfilled,” Tella said.

 

In Gombe State, an aide to Pantami said the former minister would pursue available legal options to challenge his exclusion.

 

Pantami emerged as the PDP governorship candidate after a court-ordered rerun of the party’s primary on September 29. His name appeared on INEC’s provisional list published on August 29 but was missing from the final list released on October 10.

 

NDC Protests Exclusion of Kano, Kaduna Candidates

 

The NDC has also protested the exclusion of its Kano governorship candidate, Aminu Gwarzo, and his running mate, Mustapha Rabiu Kwankwaso.

 

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, said the NDC had written to INEC and received acknowledgements but was yet to receive a substantive response.

 

INEC had earlier given political parties 14 days from the publication of the final list to notify the commission of candidates they believed had been wrongly omitted, in line with Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026.

 

The deadline expired on October 24, leaving the affected candidates and their parties awaiting the commission’s decision at Thursday’s meeting.