The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have commenced uploading the names and personal particulars of their governorship and State Houses of Assembly candidates for the 2027 general elections to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nomination portal.
PDP National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, confirmed that the opposition party began the exercise on Saturday, assuring that the process had been smooth and free of technical challenges.
According to him, the party is on course to complete the submission before INEC’s deadline.
“The Peoples Democratic Party commenced the upload of its governorship and State Houses of Assembly candidates’ details to INEC’s nomination portal on Saturday. The exercise has been progressing smoothly without any technical issues, and we are confident it will be completed well ahead of the deadline,” Bature said.
INEC had scheduled the submission of nomination forms for governorship and State Houses of Assembly candidates from 9:00 a.m. on July 18 to 6:00 p.m. on August 8, 2026.
Earlier, political parties submitted the names of their presidential and National Assembly candidates between June 27 and July 11, alongside Forms EC9 and EC9A to EC9E, in compliance with Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026.
A senior APC official, who spoke anonymously, also confirmed that the ruling party had begun uploading candidates who successfully emerged from the primary election appeal process and received approval from the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
The official disclosed that priority was being given to the party’s 16 incumbent governors seeking re-election.
“I can confirm that the party commenced the upload process yesterday, with priority given to the 16 governors seeking re-election,” the source said.
The APC official explained that only candidates whose nominations survived petitions before the primary election appeal committee and secured the approval of the NWC were included in the submission.
The source added that while there were minor adjustments to the initial list following the appeal process, the party remained confident of completing the exercise before INEC’s deadline.
Among the incumbent governors expected on the APC list are Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Hyacinth Alia (Benue), Uba Sani (Kaduna), Abba Yusuf (Kano), Dikko Radda (Katsina), Nasir Idris (Kebbi), Umaru Bago (Niger), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), Ahmed Aliyu (Sokoto), Agbu Kefas (Taraba) and Dauda Lawal (Zamfara).
The party is also expected to field several first-time governorship candidates, including Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, Senator Solomon Adeola in Ogun State, Kingsley Chinda in Rivers State and Eric Opah in Abia State.
Other expected candidates include Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi), Mustapha Gubio (Borno), Jamilu Gwamna (Gombe), Ahmed Wadada (Nasarawa) and Baba Malam Wali (Yobe).
To ensure a seamless process, the APC has constituted a committee led by Jibrin Bancir, Principal Private Secretary to the party’s National Chairman, to coordinate the collection, verification and transmission of candidates’ documents to the party’s ICT department for upload to the INEC portal.
According to INEC’s election timetable, the personal particulars of presidential and National Assembly candidates will be published on August 8, while those of governorship and State Houses of Assembly candidates will be displayed on August 29.
Political parties have until August 22 to withdraw or substitute presidential and National Assembly candidates, while governorship and State Assembly candidates can be withdrawn or replaced until September 19.
Overall, political parties are expected to submit 28 governorship candidates and 993 State Houses of Assembly candidates nationwide.
However, governorship elections will not be conducted in Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Ondo and Osun states because their governorship polls are held outside the general election cycle.
