Sunday Southerner – Main lead
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially published its anticipated final list of candidates for the February 6, 2027 governorship elections, sending shockwaves through the country’s political landscape with the dropping of prominent political heavyweights, including former Communications Minister, Isa Pantani and Ladi Adebutu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Also dropped was Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), who was caught in a viral video wielding an AK47 rifle.
The comprehensive lists, signed by INEC Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony and uploaded to the commission’s official portal on Saturday, October 10, 2026, revealed that these three candidates failed to clear strict legal hurdles regarding party registers and complex internal court cases.
It was learnt that INEC’s decision has left Gombe, Ogunwole and Gombe states where the affected candidates are from without opposition candidates, throwing political campaigns into sudden chaos few months before voters head to the polls in January 2027.
In Ogun State, INEC cleared a total of 13 candidates to contest the seat, but Ladi Adebutu and his running mate, Yemi Sowunmi-Kolapo, were visibly missing from the list.
A similar development unfolded in Gombe State, where former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, was also dropped with INEC approving 16 qualified candidates to run for the Gombe governorship, leaving the primary opposition party, the PDP, empty.
Pantami’s campaign had been embroiled in fierce internal legal battles for months. A Federal High Court had earlier canceled his initial primary victory, ruling that the voting process used by the party violated internal rules.
Hoping to fix the issue, the PDP rushed to conduct a fresh primary election on September 29, which Pantami won by a landslide. Despite this quick fix, INEC decided that the submission window had already closed, leaving Pantami off the final list.
Behind these sweeping disqualifications is a new legal precedent. INEC explained that it was strictly following a judgment delivered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria on September 24.
The nation’s highest court ruled that political parties must completely finalize and submit their membership registers before holding any primary elections.
In enforcing the ruling of the apex court, INEC decided that, any party that had messy internal primaries, failed to upload its membership register on its portal correctly, or missed submission deadlines faces total exclusion from the 2027 elections.
In Kano State, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) suffered its own blow when its governorship candidate, Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, was struck off the ballot.
Gwarzo, a well-known former deputy governor of Kano State, had built immense political momentum after partnering with his influential leader, Rabiu Kwankwaso and selecting Kwankwaso’s own son as his running mate.
It is not clear whether the NDC gubernatorial candidate was struck down because of the viral video in which he was seen with a rifle at a supposed rally.
Meanwhile, INEC withheld the final list for Rivers State, citing extreme political and legal confusion. Rivers State is currently locked in a major crisis regarding the APC’s candidate, Kingsley Chinda, who recently defected from the PDP to join the APC.
As a result of multiple suits in the courts disputing Chinda’s party switch and subsequent primary win, INEC chose to stay silent on Rivers State until the judiciary makes a final decision.
But Chinda’s camp maintained as at pres time that he was in the ballot, insisting that the candidacy of their principal was not affected by INEC’s strong hammer.
The Ogun State branch of the PDP has reacted with anger, releasing a statement and insisting that Adebutu is a fully registered, card-carrying member and that all electoral laws were strictly followed.
However, with the PDP completely out of the race for now, the political spotlight in Ogun State has shifted entirely to the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Solomon Adeola, whose name was successfully cleared and published.
With the final list now public, the clock ticks loudly for the affected political parties and candidates. It is not know if the pendulum will swing in the coming weeks before the 2027 elections.
Legal experts have predicted an instant wave of emergency lawsuits, as lawyers representing the PDP and NDC prepare to file urgent appeals at the Court of Appeal.
Political analysts say the affected parties will attempt to secure court orders forcing INEC to put the affected candidates back on the ballot. But where these projected legal rescue missions fail, the 2027 governorship race could turn into a smooth ride for the ruling party in several key states across Nigeria.
