Dispute over 2027 State Assembly nominations deepens as electoral body denies wrongdoing

A dispute between the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the party’s candidate list for the 2027 Anambra State House of Assembly elections has escalated, with Senator Victor Umeh, representing Anambra Central, calling on INEC to produce documentary evidence of how it arrived at the list it published.

Background

The controversy began after INEC published its list of candidates for the 2027 State Houses of Assembly elections on Sunday, August 30, 2026. The NDC almost immediately raised objections, saying names appearing under its platform in parts of Anambra did not match the list its internal processes had produced.

According to the party, at least nine to ten names published by INEC as NDC candidates for various Anambra constituencies were never nominated through its primaries. The disputed constituencies include Onitsha South 1, Onitsha South 2, Orumba North, Anaocha 1, Idemili North, Njikoka 1, Nnewi South, Nnewi South 2, Ayamelum, and Dunukofia.

Anambra carries particular weight for the NDC as the home state of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, making any irregularity there especially sensitive for the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The Party’s Account

NDC National Chairman Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe has laid out the party’s version of events in a series of statements. He said the disputed names emerged after a lengthy internal process: Anambra stakeholders, party leadership, representatives of the presidential candidate, and the party’s appeals panel worked together to produce a final candidate list that was signed off by all parties involved.

Zuwoghe alleged that when that list was submitted through INEC’s nomination portal using the access code issued to the NDC, officials who control the portal’s backend left nine of the party’s names on “pending” status. Names the party says it never selected appeared in their place on the published list.

The NDC chairman has called the development a serious electoral concern and asked INEC Chairman Professor Joash O. Amupitan to investigate how the disputed names made it onto the commission’s list. He has also flagged similar concerns in Benue and Imo states, suggesting the party sees the issue as extending beyond Anambra.

INEC’s Response

INEC has denied the allegations. The commission said it has no legal authority to nominate or substitute candidates on behalf of political parties, maintaining that nomination and submission of candidates is solely the responsibility of the parties themselves, subject to the Constitution and the Electoral Act 2026.

Beyond that general denial, INEC had not, as of the most recent reporting, addressed the specific claim that its portal logs would show a different submission history than what was published.

Umeh Weighs In

Senator Victor Umeh, one of the NDC’s most prominent Anambra figures, has pushed back on the idea that the burden of proof lies with the party. He argues that since INEC controls the backend infrastructure of the nomination portal, it is INEC — not the NDC — that should be producing the technical trail showing how the published list came to be. If the list came through the portal as submitted, he says, the commission should be able to show that record rather than asking the party to prove its case.

The argument reflects the NDC’s broader position: that the party has already produced a signed, internally-agreed list, and that resolving the dispute now depends on INEC’s own submission records — records only the commission has access to.

What’s Next

The NDC has indicated it is prepared to pursue legal redress if the matter isn’t resolved administratively. Party stalwarts have also warned that a failure by INEC to correct the list could trigger further legal action to protect what they describe as the mandates of the party’s legitimate candidates.

As it stands, the dispute remains unresolved: INEC has denied any wrongdoing but has not produced portal records addressing the NDC’s specific claims, while the NDC has named the affected candidates and constituencies but has not yet released documentary proof — such as its own portal submission logs or timestamps — to support its account publicly.