The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will on Saturday, August 29, make public the names of candidates nominated by political parties for the 2027 governorship and State House of Assembly elections.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the publication is part of the commission’s preparations for the February 6, 2027 polls and will allow political parties, candidates and members of the public to examine and verify the details submitted to INEC.
The commission is also expecting parties contesting the presidential and National Assembly elections to submit their final lists of candidates on the same day.
The development comes after the August 22 deadline for candidates who intended to withdraw from the 2027 elections.
Under Section 31 of the Electoral Act 2026, any candidate seeking to withdraw must personally submit a written notice to the political party that nominated them.
The notice must be signed by the candidate and accompanied by an affidavit, providing a formal procedure for withdrawals after the nomination process.
INEC is expected to publish the final list of presidential and National Assembly candidates on September 12. The publication will cover those contesting the presidential election as well as Senate and House of Representatives seats.
The commission had earlier taken steps to make information submitted by presidential candidates available for public scrutiny. In August, it displayed the personal particulars, academic credentials and other supporting documents of presidential candidates and their running mates at its offices across the country.
The exercise was conducted in line with Section 29(3) of the Electoral Act 2026, which requires INEC to publish the personal particulars and supporting documents of candidates in the constituencies where they intend to contest.
The law states: “The Commission shall, within 21 days of the receipt of the personal particulars of the candidate, publish same in the constituency where the candidate intends to contest the election.”
Among the presidential candidates whose documents were displayed were President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress and Peter Obi of the Nigerian Democratic Congress.
In the FCT, the Commission displayed the candidates’ names at its headquarters in Abuja.
The exercise was also carried out simultaneously at the six Area Council offices across the FCT, allowing members of the public to examine the credentials and other personal details submitted by candidates.
The move is aimed at strengthening transparency in the electoral process and giving citizens the opportunity to raise concerns over the information provided by those seeking elective positions.
Political parties have also uploaded the names of candidates for the various positions on INEC’s online portal after completing their primaries in accordance with the commission’s timetable.
For the governorship election, 28 states will participate in the 2027 contest, while elections into the State Houses of Assembly will be conducted across all 36 states.
The states where governorship elections will be held are Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Enugu, Ebonyi, Abia, Kwara, Benue, Plateau, Niger, Nasarawa, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi and Sokoto.
Eight states will, however, be excluded from the 2027 governorship election because of Nigeria’s staggered electoral system. They are Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Edo, Bayelsa, Anambra, Imo and Kogi, where governorship elections were conducted at different times.
The 2027 governorship and State House of Assembly elections are scheduled for February 6.
