Opposition parties in Gombe, Benue and Nasarawa states have expressed confidence that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will reverse the omission of their candidates from the final list for the 2027 elections.
NEWSNGR reports that the parties formally wrote to the commission and are now awaiting its decision.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State said it had already petitioned INEC over the exclusion of its governorship candidate, a former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Pantami.
The party’s state spokesperson, Abdulkadir Dukku, told Daily Trust that the PDP would not file another complaint for now, even though the deadline to address the matter had passed.
He said the party hoped INEC would upload Pantami’s name to the list of governorship candidates and would decide its next step after hearing from the commission.
In Benue State, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Chairman, Idoko Itodo, said the omission of the party’s governorship candidate, Sebastine Hon, was likely an error.
Itodo, who spoke in Makurdi on Sunday, said Hon’s name was included in the earlier list INEC released and dismissed claims that he might not be on the ballot.
“We have written to INEC. We have done the needful,” he said.
Also, the Nasarawa State PDP Chairman, Joel Gimba, said the party had written to the commission over the exclusion of Esson Mairiga, the lawmaker representing Lafia North in the state House of Assembly.
Gimba blamed an INEC error for the omission, insisting that Mairiga’s name was on the Certified True Copy of the list the party obtained from the commission on September 20.
