The Kabiru Turaki-led Interim National Working Committee of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, on Friday said it has submitted former President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential nomination and the names of its other candidates for the 2027 general elections to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, despite the electoral body’s refusal to recognize the committee.
The move deepens the party’s leadership crisis, with the Turaki camp insisting it validly nominated its candidates in line with the Electoral Act and warning of fresh legal action if INEC publishes a different list.
Addressing journalists, the committee’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, said the party opted for manual submission after INEC declined to provide access codes for electronic submission, insisting the codes were only an administrative convenience.
“Notwithstanding INEC’s refusal to provide us with the necessary access codes… we have successfully submitted, manually and in full compliance with the Electoral Act 2026, the list of candidates sponsored by the authentic Peoples Democratic Party,” Ememobong said.
He added that the submission, which included Jonathan’s presidential nomination and all governorship, National Assembly and state assembly candidates, was acknowledged by INEC.
Ememobong warned the commission against publishing any list other than the one submitted by the committee.
“Should the Commission publish names other than those lawfully submitted by us… we are exhausting every constitutional, legal and democratic avenue to ensure that our party is not hijacked or annexed to the ruling party,” he said.
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He traced the dispute to the Supreme Court judgment on the PDP’s leadership, saying the party’s Board of Trustees and a requisitioned National Executive Committee meeting constituted the Interim National Working Committee after the ruling left the party without a legally recognized national leadership.
According to him, INEC declined to recognize the interim leadership despite being formally notified, forcing the party to seek judicial intervention.
Faulting the Federal High Court judgment, Ememobong said, “The judgment reads more like an appeal on the judgment of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. It is clearly inconsistent with the extant decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal that form the foundation of our case.”
