The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has rejected the nomination of President Goodluck Jonathan submitted by the Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, because nominations can only be filed through its designated electronic portal.
The rejection follows the faction’s claim that it manually submitted Jonathan’s nomination and the names of its candidates for the 2027 general election after INEC allegedly refused to provide access codes required for electronic filing. The development further deepens the PDP’s leadership crisis.
However, the faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, told journalists that the committee resorted to manual submission after INEC declined to release the access codes needed for electronic filing.
He argued that the access codes were merely an administrative requirement and not a legal condition for submitting candidates.
“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 said the submission included Jonathan’s presidential nomination as well as the names of all governorship, National Assembly and state House of Assembly candidates sponsored by the committee.
He further claimed that INEC acknowledged receipt of the documents despite the dispute over the faction’s recognition.
Ememobong warned the commission against publishing any list that differs from the one submitted by his committee, saying the faction would pursue all available legal options to protect what it described as the party’s legitimate structure.
“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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Explaining the origins of the leadership dispute, Ememobong said the PDP’s Board of Trustees and a requisitioned National Executive Committee meeting constituted an Interim National Working Committee after a Supreme Court judgement allegedly left the party without a legally recognised national leadership.
According to him, INEC’s refusal to recognize the interim leadership, despite being formally notified, prompted the party to seek judicial intervention.
He also criticized a subsequent Federal High Court judgement on the matter, arguing that it attempted to revisit issues already settled by the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.
“The judgement reads more like an appeal on the judgement 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,” he said.
Ememobong disclosed that the faction had appealed the judgement and would also challenge what it described as discrepancies between the ruling delivered in court and its Certified True Copy.
He further accused INEC of compromising its constitutional neutrality, alleging that the commission withheld material facts during court proceedings involving the party and ignored congresses it had monitored.
“The Commission’s actions have regrettably reinforced the growing public perception that it is no longer acting with the impartiality expected of the nation’s electoral umpire,” he said.
Ememobong also alleged that the PDP’s internal crisis formed part of a broader effort to weaken opposition parties and entrench one-party dominance in Nigeria.
“We were the pioneer target for opposition dismantling and capture but it has now spread to almost all the opposition parties,” he said.
He called on Nigerians to defend the country’s multi-party democracy, warning that what he described as growing electoral authoritarianism could undermine democratic consolidation. He also expressed confidence that his committee would ultimately prevail in the legal battle.
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