The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has escalated its dispute with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the publication of 10 candidates for the 2027 Anambra State House of Assembly election,.
The party is demanding an electronic audit of the commission’s candidate nomination portal to establish how the disputed names and credentials entered its system.
In a statement on Wednesday, NDC director of new media and strategic communications, Theophilus Agada, challenged INEC to produce an electronic audit trail showing how the disputed candidates came to be listed under the party’s platform.
“We call on the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct an electronic audit trail to determine how these 10 candidates were smuggled into its portal through the backend,” he said.
The NDC insisted that the 10 people published by INEC as its candidates were not nominated through its internal processes and that it neither uploaded their names nor submitted their Form EC9E documents.
“The Nigeria Democratic Congress did not submit the EC9E forms of the 10 published Anambra candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The Commission should explain to the general public how it obtained the EC9E forms for these 10 candidates when the party did not submit any of them in the first place,” it said.
The party explained that it submitted the names of its 10 candidates who emerged from its appeal process, but the commission rejected those approved candidates.
“Since the NDC neither collected nor submitted the completed EC9E forms of the 10 Anambra candidates published by INEC, how did the Commission obtain their credentials when it is the party’s legal duty to submit the names of its approved candidates?”, it queried..
The demand comes after INEC rejected the party’s earlier allegation that its candidates had been replaced, maintaining that the commission did not nominate candidates for political parties.
The ICIR reports that NDC had accused INEC of removing some candidates it nominated for the 2027 state assembly election in Anambra and replacing them with impostors.
The party’s National Chairman, Moses Zuwoghe, said the names allegedly smuggled into the party’s list of candidates include Umennaajiego Jude Ezenwa (Onitsha south 1), Akpotue Obinna Chibuike (Onitsha south 2), Nwankwo Chiemerie (Orumba north), Maduagwu Eric K (Anaocha 1) and Ngoebisi Obinna (Idemili north).
Others are Isintume Charles (Njikoka 1), Nwachukwu Nonso (Nnewi South), Okeke Ifeanyi Akunne (Nnewi south 2), Nnonyelu Samson E (Ayamelum), and Azotani Chuks Francis (Dunukofia).
However, chief press secretary (CPS) to the INEC chairman, Adedayo Oketola, described the allegation as serious but maintained that INEC does not nominate candidates for political parties.
Section 29 of the Electoral Act 2026 provides for political parties to submit to INEC the list of candidates they propose to sponsor after valid primaries. The Act further restricts parties from changing or substituting a candidate whose name has been submitted, except in specified circumstances involving the candidate’s death or withdrawal.
The NDC’s latest demand centres on Form EC9E, which forms part of the documentation used in the candidate nomination process.
INEC’s own electoral regulations define its Candidate Nomination Portal as one of the commission’s official portals for electoral administration.
INEC has also historically described its Candidate Nomination Portal as the platform through which political parties obtain, complete and submit the required forms for nominating candidates.
In its published procedures, INEC has required political parties to submit candidate nomination forms online through the designated portal. Its electoral timetable documents have specifically identified Forms EC9, EC9C, EC9D and EC9E among the forms submitted through the nomination portal.
The controversy is emerging at a sensitive stage of preparations for the 2027 general election.
INEC chairman, Joash Amupitan said in June that political parties would be issued access codes for the Candidate Nomination Portal through which they would upload the names and particulars of their nominated candidates.
He also described the portal as fully automated and urged parties to ensure their relevant officials were prepared to use it.
The Electoral Act 2026 provides a mechanism for political parties that discover a problem with their published candidate list.
The law states that where a registered political party observes that the name of its candidate is missing from the published list, it must notify INEC in writing, signed by its national chairman and secretary and supported by an affidavit, within 14 days of publication.
That provision places an obligation on parties to formally raise discrepancies while also providing INEC with an opportunity to correct or address them within the statutory framework.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.