NDC Rejects INEC List, Says We Did Not Submit These Names

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has maintained that it did not submit the details of the 10 Anambra State House of Assembly candidates recently published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), describing the names as unauthorised.

The NDC Director of New Media and Strategic Communications, Agada Abuh Theophilus, made the position known in a statement on Wednesday amid an ongoing dispute between the party and the electoral commission over the candidates’ information.

The party had earlier accused INEC of unlawfully replacing some of its candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections, particularly alleging that 10 names were uploaded as NDC candidates across various constituencies in the Anambra State House of Assembly.

The NDC had said the individuals listed by INEC were not known to the party and did not emerge through its internal nomination process.

However, INEC, through the Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, dismissed claims that the commission independently uploaded or altered the party’s candidate information, describing such allegations as unfounded and untrue.

Despite INEC’s response, the NDC has doubled down on its position, insisting that it did not submit the EC9E forms belonging to the 10 candidates published for Anambra State.

According to Bush Radio Academy, Theophilus challenged INEC to explain to Nigerians how the commission obtained the EC9E forms of the affected candidates if the party did not submit them.

He maintained that the process requires political parties to submit the details of their approved candidates to INEC before the commission processes and publishes them.

The NDC official further claimed that the party had submitted the names of 10 candidates who emerged through its appeal process on the INEC portal, but that the commission rejected those candidates.

He questioned how the names currently appearing on the electoral commission’s portal were uploaded, given the party’s assertion that it neither collected nor submitted the completed EC9E forms of those candidates.

The NDC subsequently called on INEC to conduct an electronic audit trail of its portal to establish how the disputed names and credentials were entered into the system.

The party alleged that the names may have been inserted through the backend of the commission’s portal and urged INEC to provide a clear explanation of the process through which the disputed candidate information was obtained and published.

The controversy comes as political parties and INEC continue preparations for the 2027 general elections, with the NDC insisting that transparency in the candidate nomination and publication process is essential to maintaining confidence in the electoral system.