INEC Cannot Tell A Political Party Who Should Be Its Candidate – Sambo

Nigerian journalist, Sumner Sambo, has stated that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cannot dictate who political parties can have as their candidates.

Sumner stated this in response to the list of candidates that each political party submitted to the electoral body ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He argued that INEC’s job is to serve as a witness to how a candidate emerges.

NEWSNGR reports that he shared his thoughts on Thursday when he appeared as a guest in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’.

He said, “INEC cannot tell a political party who is or ought to be its candidate

“What INEC can do is be a witness to how a candidate emerges, take down notes, and preserve them, and if the process goes to court, they can present that in court.

“If the process does not go to court, INEC must accept the candidate presented by the party.

“All it has to do is to await for the candidate that has been deprived as the person who claimed he won to approach the court.” 

Meanwhile, INEC has issued access codes to virtually all registered political parties to enable them to upload the particulars of their candidates to its nomination portal, with the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) being the only exception as of Tuesday evening.

It was earlier reported that all other political parties, including the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), had received their access codes despite a subsisting court judgment involving the NDC.

A senior official of the commission said INEC granted the NDC access after taking judicial notice of the party’s appeal against the judgment and its application for a stay of execution.

According to Daily Trust, the official stressed that the commission’s decision was taken without prejudice to the final determination of the case.

“Senator Seriake, their National Leader, claimed they’ve appealed the ruling and applied for stay of execution. It’s only proper to take judicial notice of their appeal and not deny them the code. Obviously, this is without prejudice to the final outcome of the case,” the source said.

The official explained that the pending appeal and the application for a stay of execution were considered sufficient grounds not to deny the party access to the Candidate Nomination Portal while the matter remains before the courts.

The source further disclosed that, as of Tuesday evening, virtually all registered political parties had collected their access codes from the commission.

“By the way, I’ve just confirmed that all but NNPP have collected their code,” the source added.

The access code allows political parties to upload the particulars of their candidates to INEC’s Candidate Nomination Portal in line with the commission’s timetable for forthcoming elections

The clarification came amid public interest over INEC’s decision to give the NDC access to the portal despite the recent court ruling affecting the party.

The commission, however, maintained that granting the access code to the NDC would not prejudice the final outcome of the pending litigation.