Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of replacing candidates nominated by the party for the 2027 general elections with names it described as unknown and unauthorized.
The allegation followed the publication of candidates for the State Houses of Assembly elections by INEC, which the party claimed contained names that did not emerge from its nomination process.
In a statement issued on Sunday, NDC National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, described the development as a deliberate attempt to undermine the party ahead of the 2027 elections and create confusion among its supporters.
According to him, the controversy is particularly pronounced in Anambra State, the home state of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
He alleged that 10 names published by INEC as NDC candidates for various constituencies in Anambra were neither nominated nor approved by the party.
“The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, totally condemns the action of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its officials over the uploading and publication of unauthorized names in various constituencies, principally in the Anambra State House of Assembly (home state of our Presidential Candidate, His Excellency Peter Obi), where ten (10) names, unknown to the party; names not authorized by the party; names not sent by the party to INEC, in accordance with the law, have now been uploaded and published as candidates of the party,” the statement read.
The party called on the INEC Chairman to immediately investigate the circumstances surrounding the publication of the names.
“We call on the INEC Chairman to urgently and immediately cause an investigation into the matter and unravel how this came to be,” Zuwoghe said.
The NDC further alleged that similar irregularities may have occurred in other states, including Benue and Imo, urging the electoral commission to widen its investigation.
“The same investigation should also be carried out in other constituencies like Benue, Imo and others, as this mischief has not only caused an embarrassment to the party, its leadership and genuine candidates, but has also caused a lot of disaffection among the millions of the party’s supporters all over the country and in the Diaspora.”
The party disclosed that it had also commenced its own internal investigation, claiming that preliminary findings pointed to the alleged involvement of some INEC officials.
“We, as a party, are also carrying out our own independent investigation, the preliminary findings of which are already pointing to the complicity of INEC officials in foisting names purporting to be our candidates, but who are not from us, and using the uploading process as a tool of blackmail and intimidation against the party, and getting those names to be uploaded and published, for whatever purpose or ulterior motive.”
Among those listed by the NDC as names allegedly inserted into its Anambra State House of Assembly candidates’ list are Umennaajiego Jude Ezenwa (Onitsha South I), Akpotue Obinna Chibuike (Onitsha South II), Nwankwo Chiemerie (Orumba North), Maduagwu Eric K (Anaocha I), Ngoebisi Obinna (Idemili North), Isintume Charles (Njikoka I), Nwachukwu Nonso (Nnewi South I), Okeke Ifeanyi Akunne (Nnewi South II), Nnonyelu Samson E. (Ayamelum) and Azotani Chuks Francis (Dunukofia).
Explaining how the alleged anomaly occurred, the NDC chairman insisted that neither he nor the party uploaded the disputed names.
“I, as Chairman of the Party and custodian of the code given to the NDC for the upload of our candidates, never uploaded those names, and I unequivocally state that the party did not also upload those nine names.”
He explained that after the conclusion of the party’s primaries and appeals process, stakeholders in Anambra, working with the national leadership, representatives of Peter Obi and the appeals panel, agreed on a final list of candidates which was subsequently uploaded to the INEC portal.
According to him, the commission allegedly placed nine of the candidates on “pending” status, claiming its system already contained different names submitted by officials who monitored the primaries.
He further alleged that despite the party’s formal objection and submission of its authentic candidates, INEC declined to make the changes.
“To further confirm that there was a predetermined effort on the part of INEC to impose the said nine candidates on the party, and embarrass both NDC and Mr. Peter Obi, INEC went behind the NDC to collect the Form EC-9 directly from the candidates, bypassing the party, and uploading same. It then went ahead to publish the controversial names as authentic candidates of the party.”
Zuwoghe argued that the commission’s actions were inconsistent with the Electoral Act and INEC’s own guidelines.
He maintained that if there were discrepancies between names submitted by the party and those allegedly obtained by INEC officials monitoring the primaries, the commission should have left the affected positions vacant instead of publishing what he described as fictitious candidates.
“At the very worst, INEC could have left us with no candidates for those positions, if they knew they were unwilling to engage us in addressing any perceived anomaly.”
The NDC chairman also alleged that the development reflected a growing pattern of opposition parties being prevented from fielding their preferred candidates.
He vowed that the party would pursue the matter through all available legal and constitutional channels until what it described as the injustice is reversed.
INEC had not responded to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.
