By Dennis Okechukwu
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has published an updated list of governorship and deputy governorship candidates for the 2027 general elections, including former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in Gombe State.
However, the commission has retained the exclusion of former Kano State Deputy Governor, Abdulsalam Gwarzo, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate, and former Ogun State governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu, from the updated list.
The revised list, published on Saturday, shows Pantami alongside his running mate, Haruna Ahmadu Hasan, as the PDP’s candidates in Gombe State.
Pantami, 53, is identified in the document as Ibrahim Isa Ali, while Hasan, 41, is listed as the deputy governorship candidate.
In Kano State, the names of Gwarzo and his running mate, Rabiu Mustapha, are still missing from the NDC’s entries.
Instead, INEC left the party’s governorship and deputy governorship candidate spaces blank, with the words “Court Order” entered in the remarks column.
The notation indicates that the publication of the NDC candidates’ names remains subject to an existing court order.
Similarly, Adebutu and his running mate have not been restored to the updated list in Ogun State.
Unlike Pantami, whose petition was successful, INEC rejected Adebutu’s request for a review of his exclusion.
The commission had initially published its final list of governorship candidates on October 10, 2026, leaving out Pantami, Gwarzo and Adebutu, among others.
Their exclusion followed disputes over compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act 2026, particularly the requirement that political parties submit their membership registers to INEC before conducting valid primary elections.
The controversy came after the Supreme Court, in a judgment delivered on September 24, affirmed the constitutionality of the Electoral Act provisions requiring political parties to submit their membership registers to the commission before conducting primaries.
Following complaints from affected candidates and political parties, INEC reviewed the nominations and petitions submitted by the aggrieved parties.
In a statement issued by the Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, the commission disclosed that it received 69 petitions from 12 political parties across 26 states concerning governorship candidates.
Of the petitions, 41 were upheld, while 28 were rejected.
For the State Houses of Assembly elections, INEC received 61 petitions from 11 political parties across 11 states. It approved 25 and rejected 36.
Overall, the commission considered 130 petitions, approving 66 and rejecting 64.
INEC said its decisions followed a review of the complaints, relevant records and applicable legal provisions.
It added that the updated lists reflecting its decisions had been published on its website for the information of political parties, candidates and the public.