Sh*ck List: Top Political Heavyweights Missing From INEC’s Final 2027 Candidate List

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has published the final list of candidates for the 2027 general elections, ending months of speculation surrounding the political ambitions of several prominent figures.

The list, released on Saturday, revealed that a number of well-known politicians failed to make the final cut. Among the notable omissions is former President Goodluck Jonathan, whose name had reportedly been submitted to INEC by the Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as its presidential candidate.

Also absent from the final list are Senator Ned Nwoko (Delta North), former Ogun State Governor and Ogun East Senator Gbenga Daniel, former Gombe State Governor and Gombe Central Senator Danjuma Goje, and Senator Garba Maidoki of Kebbi South.

For Nwoko, the omission confirms his earlier loss in the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primary. His name was missing from the candidate list displayed at the INEC office in Asaba, Delta State, while former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa emerged as the APC’s candidate for the Delta North Senatorial District.

The development comes roughly two months after Senate President Godswill Akpabio assured APC lawmakers who lost their return tickets that the party leadership was reviewing complaints arising from the primary elections.

Although the APC later reinstated six serving senators after considering petitions submitted to its Primary Election Appeal Committee, several influential politicians who had hoped to benefit from the review remained excluded from the final list forwarded to INEC.

In Gombe State, former Governor Danjuma Goje also failed to secure the APC ticket for Gombe Central after losing the party’s primary to retired Deputy Commissioner of Police Mohammed Ahmed.

On the opposition side, former Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo clinched the PDP ticket for Gombe North Senatorial District, while Senator Anthony Siyako emerged as the party’s candidate for Gombe South.

Bauchi State also recorded the absence of two serving federal lawmakers from INEC’s final list. They include Senator Shehu Buba, who represents Bauchi South Senatorial District, and Mansur Soro, the lawmaker representing Darazo/Ganjuwa Federal Constituency.

Senator Buba will not seek another term in the Senate after defecting from the APC to the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), where he secured the party’s governorship ticket. Soro had previously announced that he would neither contest for the Bauchi Central Senate seat nor seek re-election to the House of Representatives.

The final list follows the APC National Working Committee’s (NWC) review of the party’s primary elections, during which the victories of some senatorial candidates were overturned and six incumbent senators were reinstated.

The review, conducted based on recommendations from the APC Primary Election Appeal Committee, affected primaries in Kogi, Benue, Taraba, Ondo, Abia, Niger, Kwara, Kaduna and Ebonyi states.

The six senators restored by the party are Sunday Karimi, Emmanuel Udende, Titus Zam, Shuaibu Isa Lau, Adeniyi Adegbonmire and Olajide Ipinsagba.

In Abia State, Prince Paul Ikonne replaced Edinburgh Uchenna Erondu as the APC’s candidate for Abia South Senatorial District.

One of the biggest outcomes of the review was the reversal of former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam’s earlier victory, with the APC restoring the ticket to the incumbent senator, Emmanuel Udende.

With the publication of the final candidate list, INEC has officially confirmed those cleared to contest the 2027 general elections, while several political heavyweights have been left out of the race.