NDC, LP Ready Candidate Lists As Parties Await INEC Portal

The Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) has said it has completed its primaries and it is ready to upload the names of its successful candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) nomination portal.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Osa Director, disclosed this to Punch while speaking on the party’s preparations ahead of INEC’s deadline for the submission of candidates’ particulars.

Asked whether the NDC would publish the names of its successful candidates, the Director said the publication of candidates’ names was not a legal requirement.

He said, “It is not compulsory for you to publish a list of candidates. What the constitution expects you to do by the guidelines of the Electoral Act is to send your list to INEC. And we have done so.

“Those who were victorious were also contacted and given nomination forms to fill. That’s all. Did you see the APC publish the names of their candidates in any major newspaper? The key thing is to send it to INEC, and candidates will be contacted, which we are already doing.”

LP To Ratify List

The National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party (LP), Ken Asogwa, said the party was on course to meet the deadline.

He said the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) would meet later this week to ratify the nomination list.

Asogwa said, “It will be done this week. Although I need to reconfirm with the National Organising Secretary, I am certain it will be concluded this week.

“It is already ongoing. I am sure we will beat the deadline. We have an NEC meeting on Thursday where the whole nomination list will be approved by the National Executive Committee. So, once the approval is given on Thursday, the next stage will be to forward the list to INEC.”

Meanwhile, the LP and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) said consultations were still ongoing over the selection of their vice-presidential candidates for the 2027 general election.

The LP presented Chibuzo Okereke as its presidential candidate, while the SDP retained its 2023 presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo.

Asogwa said the LP was still consulting on its running mate and expressed confidence that the matter would be resolved soon.

“On the issue of running mate, there are still some consultations ongoing. We are confident that it will be sorted in a few hours from now,” Asogwa said.

SDP Candidate Consulting

The National Publicity Secretary of the SDP, Rufus Aiyenigba, also confirmed that Adebayo was consulting widely within the party before announcing his running mate.

He said the process was aimed at ensuring broad acceptance of the eventual nominee across the party’s structures.

Aiyenigba said, “Our SDP presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, is currently undergoing wide consultation within the party’s national structure, with regard to his running mate for the 2027 presidential election.

“He will soon unveil his choice and will certainly be a most popular and acceptable choice to all, and most value-adding.”

Only NDC Names Running Mate

So far, only the NDC has announced a vice-presidential candidate.

The party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, named former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso as his running mate shortly after he was officially confirmed as the party’s presidential candidate.

The announcement followed the NDC presidential primary, where Obi secured the party’s ticket for the 2027 election.

Obi and Kwankwaso recently defected from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to the NDC, citing internal divisions and prolonged legal disputes within their former party.