Governorship Polls: Candidates’ Substitution Window Closes In 11 Days

As disputes over candidature continue in states, political parties have less than 11 days to withdraw or replace the candidates they submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the 2027 governorship elections.

However, checks by LEADERSHIP revealed that the major parties  the All Progressives Congress (APC), the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) have candidates in the states, while perceived smaller parties also made a good showing.

This is against the backdrop of claims that some leading opposition parties, ADC and NDC, have no candidates in 12 states, a claim which has been debunked by the concerned parties.

Meanwhile, attempts by _LEADERSHIP_ to obtain the current comprehensive list of governorship candidates from the national office of INEC proved abortive.

It was, however, learnt that the commission is awaiting the expiration of the September 19, 2026 deadline for the withdrawal and replacement of candidates nominated by political parties for the 2027 governorship and State House of Assembly elections.

The commission has published the names of governorship and State House of Assembly candidates submitted by political parties, with the lists available for inspection at INEC offices across the country.
An official of the commission, who was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter, said the list currently available should not be regarded as the final list of candidates for the elections.

According to the official, political parties still have the opportunity to withdraw candidates and replace those who may withdraw before the expiration of the September 19 deadline.

The insider said INEC would publish the final list of governorship and State House of Assembly candidates after the conclusion of the relevant nomination and substitution processes, in accordance with the Electoral Act 2026 and the commission’s revised timetable.

The September 19 deadline is pursuant to Section 31 of the Electoral Act 2026, which provides that a candidate may withdraw his or her candidature not later than 90 days before the election.

September 26, 2026 has been fixed as the deadline for political parties to submit their nomination forms to INEC.

The forms, listed in the revised timetable as EC13A, EC13B, EC13C, EC13D and EC13E, are to be submitted in compliance with Section 30(1) of the Electoral Act 2026.

The official said the publication of the final list would come after the conclusion of the nomination process and the relevant statutory deadlines, including the submission of nomination forms, withdrawal of candidates and replacement of withdrawn candidates.

The 2027 governorship election will hold in 28 states in this election cycle. The elections in the remaining 8 states, which make up the 36 states in Nigeria, are not part of this election season.

Checks by _LEADERSHIP_ show that the names of some candidates were not displayed in states like Zamfara and Sokoto even though the parties submitted candidates to the commission.