The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of systematically removing its nominated candidates from the 2027 general elections portal and replacing them with “strange names unknown to the party.”
The allegation came Sunday after INEC published the list of candidates for State Houses of Assembly elections, with the party singling out Anambra State — the home state of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi — as the epicenter of the alleged manipulation.
In a statement signed by NDC National Chairman, Sen. Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, the party condemned what it described as a deliberate plot to sabotage the NDC ahead of the 2027 polls and cause disaffection among its supporters.
“The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, totally condemns the action of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its officials over the uploading and publication of unauthorized names in various constituencies, principally in the Anambra State House of Assembly… where ten (10) names, unknown to the party; names not authorized by the party; names not sent by the party to INEC, in accordance with the law, have now been uploaded and published as candidates of the party,” the statement read
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According to Zuwoghe, the NDC completed its primaries and appeals process and submitted a final list signed off by all stakeholders, inhttps://youtu.be/KB5g7nk_Qf0cluding representatives of the presidential candidate. But when the list was uploaded to the INEC portal using the party’s code, he said INEC officials kept nine names on “Pending” status.
“Their claim was that their system already had those names, which they said were submitted by their officials who monitored the NDC primaries on the field,” he said.
The NDC listed the following as names “smuggled” into its Anambra list:
– Onitsha South 2: Akpotue Obinna Chibuike
– Orumba North: Nwankwo Chiemerie
– Nnewi South: Nwachukwu Nonso
– Onitsha South 1: Umennaajiego Jude Ezenwa
– Anaocha 1: Maduagwu Eric K
– Idemili North: Ngoebisi Obinna
– Njikoka 1: Isintume Charles
– Nnewi South 2: Okeke Ifeanyi Akunne
– Ayamelum: Nnonyelu Samson E.
– Dunukofia: Azotani Chuks Francis
“I, as Chairman of the Party and custodian of the code given to the NDC for the upload of our candidates, never uploaded those names, and I unequivocally state that the party did not also upload those nine names,” Zuwoghe stated.
The party further alleged that INEC went “behind the NDC to collect Form EC-9 directly from the candidates, bypassing the party,” and then published the names as authentic NDC candidates.
“This not only runs against the grain of the Electoral Act and INEC’s own guidelines, it is simply unacceptable,” the Chairman said.
He said the pattern was also observed in Benue, Imo and other constituencies nationwide, describing it as “foisting names purporting to be our candidates, but who are not from us, and using the uploading process as a tool of blackmail and intimidation against the party.”
The NDC is demanding an urgent investigation by the INEC Chairman into how the names were uploaded, and called for the probe to cover all affected states.
“At the very worst, INEC could have left us with no candidates for those positions, if they knew they were unwilling to engage us in addressing any perceived anomaly,” Zuwoghe said.
He accused the commission of “deliberately preventing parties from uploading their rightful candidates, while criminally handpicking candidates for the parties,” and said the trend has targeted opposition parties in particular.
The NDC said it is also conducting its own independent investigation and will approach “the court of competent jurisdiction to seek redress and restore our authentic candidates.”
“Even as we move to approach the court… the general public and our millions of supporters should note that these are not our candidates,” the statement concluded.
INEC is yet to respond publicly to the allegations as of press time.
