THE African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) have uploaded the particulars of their presidential candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nomination portal as preparations for the 2027 general election gather momentum.
The ADC confirmed that it had successfully uploaded the names and particulars of its presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and his running mate, former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi.
Announcing the development on his X account on Tuesday night, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, described the upload as another milestone in the party’s preparations for the election.
“We are pleased to announce that we have successfully uploaded the names and particulars of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar (GCON), and our Vice Presidential Candidate, Rotimi Amaechi (CON), to the nomination portal of the @INECNigeria,” Abdullahi said.
Similarly, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) announced that it had uploaded the particulars of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to the INEC portal.
The party’s National Leader, Seriake Dickson, disclosed this in a post on his X account, adding that the name of the vice-presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, would be uploaded after the completion of the required documentation.
He also said the submission of candidates for other elective offices was ongoing.
Dickson said the party had complied with the INEC timetable and assured members that there was sufficient time to submit the names of candidates for the National Assembly, governorship and state Houses of Assembly before the respective deadlines.
He also revealed that the NDC had filed an appeal against a court ruling affecting the party, alongside an application for a stay of execution, which had been served on the INEC chairman.
According to him, the party remains a duly registered political party and had concluded its nationwide primaries under INEC’s supervision.
The ICIR reports that the latest developments come amid legal uncertainty surrounding both parties.
On June 27, a Federal High Court in Lokoja set aside its earlier judgment that had directed INEC to register the NDC as a political party.
The presiding judge, Isah Dashen, ruled that the earlier decision was constitutionally defective because it was delivered without hearing all parties with an interest in the matter.
The court upheld an application by the Peace Movement Party (PMP), which argued that its interests were affected by the registration of the NDC, particularly over the party’s logo. The judge ordered that the status quo before the December 2025 judgment be restored and directed that the substantive suit begin afresh, with INEC, the PMP and the NDC joined as parties.
Despite the ruling, the NDC National Leader has maintained that the party remains duly registered, noting that it has appealed the judgment and filed an application for a stay of execution.
He also disclosed that the appeal and stay application had been served on the INEC chairman and insisted that the commission should act in accordance with the law while the appeal is pending.
Similarly, the ADC is also facing legal hurdles. On June 15, a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered INEC to deregister the ADC, alongside the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), citing their poor electoral performance in previous polls.
The judge, Peter Lifu, held that the parties failed to meet the constitutional requirements for retaining their registration and directed INEC to remove them from its register, effectively barring them from participating in future elections, including the 2027 general election.
The judgment followed a suit by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators, which argued that the affected parties no longer satisfied the constitutional thresholds required to remain registered.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M