The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has challenged the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) to substantiate its allegation that the Commission removed the party’s validly nominated candidates for some State House of Assembly constituencies in Anambra and Benue States and replaced them with unauthorised names.
INEC, in a strong rebuttal issued on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, dismissed the allegation as unfounded, insisting that the law does not empower it to select, insert or substitute candidates for political parties.
The Commission’s position was contained in a statement by the Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Mohammed Kudu Haruna, who said candidate nomination remained solely the responsibility of political parties.
“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,” Haruna said.
He explained that although INEC monitors political party primaries as part of its statutory oversight responsibilities, such monitoring does not give the Commission the authority to determine who emerges as a party’s candidate.
“Monitoring a party’s primary is a statutory oversight function only and confers no power on INEC to choose or impose a candidate,” he added.
Haruna said the Commission had put measures in place ahead of the 2027 elections to ensure that political parties retained control of their candidate nomination processes.
According to him, all 22 registered political parties designated two technically trained officers to manage their nomination processes after undergoing training organised by INEC.
He said access codes to the Commission’s nomination portal were thereafter issued directly and in person to each party’s National Chairman, rather than through proxies.
Haruna further explained that candidate lists were generated from submissions made by the political parties through the EC9 series of forms, which were jointly signed by their National Chairmen and National Secretaries.
“Therefore any claim that the Commission independently uploaded or altered candidate information is unfounded and untrue,” he stated.
The IVEC chairman said INEC’s records provided further evidence that the candidates at the centre of the controversy were submitted by the party itself.
“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,” Haruna said.
The NDC had accused INEC of removing its validly nominated candidates in certain constituencies in Anambra and Benue States and replacing them with names allegedly not authorised by the party.
But INEC maintained that the allegation was inconsistent with the established nomination process and the legal limits of the Commission’s powers.
The electoral body said it would continue to operate transparently and ensure that all political parties and stakeholders were accorded a level playing field ahead of the 2027 elections.
“The Commission remains committed to transparency, accountability and providing a level playing field for all stakeholders in the electoral process,” Haruna said.
