Court Ruling Stalls NDC 2027 Nominations

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been denied access to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) candidate nomination portal, casting fresh uncertainty over the party’s participation in the 2027 general elections and potentially affecting the presidential ambition of former Labour Party candidate Peter Obi and his running mate, former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso.

The development follows a Federal High Court judgment directing INEC to deregister the NDC, a ruling that has thrown the party’s legal status into question just as political parties begin submitting candidates for the 2027 polls.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, confirmed that officials of the electoral commission declined to issue the access code required to upload the names of the party’s candidates to the nomination portal.

READ ALSO: MTN Chairman: South Africa Is Nothing Without Africa

“We approached INEC to collect the access code to upload the names of our candidates to the INEC portal. They told us that they will get back to us,” Director said.

He maintained that the party had fulfilled its obligations and blamed the situation on the commission’s refusal to provide the necessary credentials.

According to him, the inability to upload candidates should not be interpreted as a failure on the part of the NDC but as a consequence of INEC’s decision to withhold access while the court judgment remains in force.

The denial comes despite INEC’s adjustment of the timetable for issuing portal access codes to political parties. The commission shifted the release of the credentials from Friday, June 26, to Monday, June 29, to facilitate a smoother nomination process for eligible parties.

Under the revised election timetable, political parties are expected to submit nominations for presidential and National Assembly candidates between June 27 and July 11, 2026, while governorship and state assembly candidates are to be uploaded from July 18 to August 8. Candidate particulars are expected to be published in August ahead of the commencement of campaigns and the 2027 general elections.

The NDC’s inability to gain access to the portal raises questions over whether the party can meet the nomination deadlines unless the legal issues surrounding its status are resolved.

The uncertainty also clouds the political future of several prominent politicians who recently aligned with the party, including Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, who were ratified as the NDC’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively.

In response, the party said it would immediately seek legal relief to halt the implementation of the deregistration order.

“We will go back there by tomorrow. I believe by tomorrow we must have filed a stay of execution in court,” Director said.

The outcome of the legal challenge is expected to determine whether the NDC will regain access to INEC’s nomination portal and remain eligible to field candidates in the 2027 general elections.