Summary
A PDP faction led by Kabiru Turaki says it has manually submitted former President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2027 presidential nomination to INEC.
The group claims INEC refused to recognise its interim leadership and denied it access codes for electronic submission.
The faction has threatened legal action if INEC publishes a different list of candidates.
The leadership crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken another twist after a faction led by Kabiru Turaki announced that it had manually submitted former President Goodluck Jonathan's nomination for the 2027 presidential election to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Read original
The Interim National Working Committee (INWC), headed by Turaki, said the submission was made despite INEC's refusal to recognise the committee as the party's legitimate leadership.
Speaking to journalists, the committee's National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, said the party adopted manual submission after INEC allegedly declined to issue access codes required for electronic filing.
According to him, the Electoral Act 2026 does not make electronic submission compulsory, describing the access codes as merely an administrative requirement.
Ememobong stated that the committee successfully submitted the party's list of candidates, including Jonathan's presidential nomination as well as governorship, National Assembly and state House of Assembly candidates. He added that INEC acknowledged receipt of the documents.
He warned the electoral commission against recognising or publishing any candidate list different from the one submitted by the Turaki-led committee.
"If the Commission publishes names other than those lawfully submitted by us, we will pursue every constitutional, legal and democratic means available to ensure our party is not hijacked or annexed to the ruling party," he said.
The PDP faction traced the dispute to the Supreme Court's judgment on the party's leadership, arguing that the ruling left the party without a legally recognised National Working Committee. Ememobong said the party's Board of Trustees and a duly convened National Executive Committee meeting subsequently established the Interim National Working Committee.
He alleged that although INEC was formally informed of the development, the commission refused to recognise the interim leadership, forcing the party to seek legal redress.
The spokesman also criticised a recent Federal High Court ruling, describing it as inconsistent with previous decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. He disclosed that the party had already filed an appeal and would further challenge what it described as differences between the judgment delivered in court and its Certified True Copy.
Ememobong further accused INEC of failing to remain neutral in its handling of the party's affairs. He claimed the commission ignored congresses it monitored and withheld important facts during court proceedings involving the PDP.
According to him, such actions have weakened public confidence in Nigeria's electoral process and strengthened concerns about the impartiality of the electoral umpire.
He also alleged that the PDP had become the first major opposition party targeted in a wider effort to weaken opposition politics and pave the way for one-party dominance.
Calling on Nigerians to protect the country's multi-party democracy, Ememobong warned that electoral authoritarianism poses a threat to democratic governance, while expressing confidence that the party's legal efforts would eventually succeed.
