INEC Takes Fresh Action Following Omission of Pantami, Others’ Names
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is preparing to review petitions challenging the omission of several political candidates from its published list for the 2027 general elections, with former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Pantami, among those affected.
Politics Nigeria gathered that the commission is expected to consider the complaints at its next meeting scheduled for Thursday, October 29.
This follows the expiration of the 14-day period provided for political parties and other interested parties to challenge candidates’ particulars published by the electoral body.
The petitions concern candidates from different political parties and states.
They include Pantami, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Gombe State; Abdulsalam Gwarzo of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC); Senator Danjuma Laah, the NDC’s governorship candidate in Kaduna State; Sebastine Hon of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Benue State; and Ladi Adebutu, the PDP governorship candidate in Ogun State.
Other complaints reportedly concern candidates whose names were missing from the commission’s final list despite earlier documentation indicating their participation in the electoral process.
Sources within INEC disclosed that the commission had received numerous petitions before the deadline expired on Saturday.
They explained that an initial assessment had already been conducted, but the final report would be prepared after the submission window closed.
“There was a kind of a preliminary report, but the final report can only come out after the deadline for receiving petition.
“So, our next meeting I know it’s on Thursday because even the chairman is on Zonal tour. Today (Sunday) or tomorrow (Monday) he should be in Gombe and come back on Wednesday. And when they come back on Wednesday, we will have a meeting on Thursday,” one of the sources said.
Another source confirmed that petitions were still arriving on the final day allowed for submissions, indicating that the commission had several complaints to process before reaching a decision.
“Yesterday (Saturday) was the final day for receiving petitions. Up until that time, we were still receiving petitions,” the source said.
According to one of the officials, the petitions are directed to the INEC chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, for consideration.
The official said the commission’s departments had been reviewing the complaints and preparing the necessary reports.
“Of course, all petitions are addressed to the chairman. You need to sit down with them for the advice of the department. As a department, we have been going through all that, and they had a preliminary report,” the source said.
The official also indicated that the commission would consider the complaints according to the applicable legal provisions, regardless of whether the affected parties believed the omissions were justified.
“All the cases. It is what the law says. After publication, they have two weeks to petition, whether they think it will be fair or unfair to them,” the source added.
Pantami’s omission has attracted particular attention because of his position as the PDP’s governorship candidate in Gombe State.
The party has expressed concern over his absence from the published list and said it expects the electoral commission to address the issue.
INEC Chairman Amupitan’s ongoing zonal tour has also been cited as a factor affecting the timing of the meeting.
The chairman was expected to visit Gombe State as part of the exercise before returning to Abuja, where the commission’s next meeting was scheduled to hold.
However, the commission had not publicly confirmed the number of petitions received or the specific decisions it intended to take as of the time of the report.
Efforts to obtain an official response were unsuccessful.
INEC Deputy Director of Publicity Wilfred Osilama Ifogah could not be reached through his direct telephone line and did not respond to a WhatsApp message sent to him.
The commission’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, also said she had only recently resumed official duties and did not yet have information on the petitions.
She could not confirm the number of complaints received or the date on which they would be considered.
PDP Awaits INEC’s Decision on Pantami
The PDP in Gombe State has confirmed that it submitted a complaint over Pantami’s omission from the list of governorship candidates for the 2027 elections.
However, the party said it was still waiting for the commission to respond to its earlier submission.
The party’s Public Relations Officer in the state, Abdulkadir Ahmed Dukku, said the PDP had not filed another petition because it wanted INEC to address the complaint already before it.
Dukku maintained that the party remained hopeful that the commission would include Pantami’s name in the list.
He added that the party would decide on its next course of action after receiving INEC’s response.
SDP Raises Concern Over Benue Candidate’s Omission
The Social Democratic Party in Benue State has also confirmed that it has taken steps to challenge the omission of its governorship candidate, Sebastine Hon, from INEC’s final list.
The party’s state chairman, Idoko Itodo, said the SDP had submitted a complaint and expressed confidence that the omission could be an administrative error that would be corrected by the commission.
Itodo explained that Hon’s name had appeared on an earlier list released by INEC.
He therefore dismissed suggestions that the omission necessarily meant the party’s candidate would be excluded from the forthcoming election.
“We have written to INEC. We have done the needful,” he said.
The party is now awaiting the commission’s response.
PDP Petitions INEC Over Nasarawa Assembly Candidate
In Nasarawa State, the PDP has also raised a complaint over the omission of Esson Mairiga, who represents Lafia North in the state House of Assembly, from the party’s final list of candidates.
The state chairman of the party, Joel Daniel Gimba, confirmed that the PDP had petitioned INEC over the matter.
Gimba described the omission as an error, arguing that a Certified True Copy (CTC) obtained from the commission on September 20 contained Mairiga’s name.
