The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, of removing candidates validly nominated by the party for the 2027 elections and replacing them with what it described as unauthorised names.
The party raised particular concerns over Anambra State, the home state of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, alleging that 10 individuals who did not emerge from its nomination process were published by INEC as its candidates for various State House of Assembly constituencies.
In a statement issued by its National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, the NDC said it had conducted its primaries and appeal process before producing a final list of candidates signed by the relevant party stakeholders.
Zuwoghe alleged that after the party uploaded its candidates to the INEC portal using the code issued to the NDC, several disputed names appeared on the system despite not being submitted by the party.
He maintained that, as the party chairman and custodian of the code used to upload the candidates, he did not upload the disputed names and insisted that the NDC never authorised their submission.
The party also accused INEC of collecting Form EC 9 directly from some of the disputed candidates instead of obtaining the documents through the NDC.
It alleged that the names were subsequently uploaded and published as authentic candidates of the party.
The NDC said INEC should not impose candidates on a political party where there are discrepancies between the party's official submissions and information obtained by the commission's monitoring teams.
The party called on the INEC Chairman to urgently investigate the matter and determine how the disputed names came to be published. It also said similar allegations had been raised in Benue and Imo states.
According to the NDC, its preliminary investigation is already pointing to the possible complicity of some INEC officials in the alleged substitution of its candidates.
The party said it would approach a court of competent jurisdiction to challenge the publication and seek the restoration of the candidates it considers authentic.
It urged its supporters and the general public to disregard the disputed names, insisting that the individuals published by INEC did not emerge as candidates through the NDC's nomination process.
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