NDC Rejects INEC List: ‘We Did Not Submit The Names Published

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has insisted that it did not submit the details of 10 candidates published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its candidates for various constituencies in the Anambra State House of Assembly.

The party described the published names as unauthorised and demanded an explanation from the electoral commission over how the candidates’ information appeared on its portal.

NDC Director of New Media and Strategic Communications, Agada Abuh Theophilus, made the position known in a statement issued on Wednesday.

The development follows an earlier allegation by the party that INEC had illegally replaced some of the candidates it nominated ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The party had specifically accused the commission of uploading the names of 10 individuals who, it claimed, did not emerge from its nomination process.

NDC National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, had earlier stated that the individuals listed by INEC as the party’s candidates were unknown to the NDC and were not submitted to the commission by the party.

However, INEC rejected the allegation, with the commission’s Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, describing claims that the electoral body independently uploaded or altered candidate information as unfounded and untrue.

Despite the denial, the NDC maintained that it never submitted the EC9E forms of the 10 candidates published by INEC.

Theophilus challenged the commission to explain how it obtained the forms and credentials of the affected candidates if they were not submitted by the party.

“The Nigeria Democratic Congress did not submit the EC9E forms of the 10 published Anambra candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,” he said.

“The Commission should explain to the general public how it obtained the EC9E forms for these 10 candidates when the party did not submit any of them in the first place.”

According to the NDC official, the nomination process is straightforward, with political parties expected to submit the names of their approved candidates to INEC for consideration and approval.

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

Theophilus questioned how the names eventually published by INEC entered the commission’s system when, according to the party, it neither collected nor submitted the completed EC9E forms relating to them.

The NDC official alleged that the names were inserted into the INEC portal through its backend and called on the electoral commission to conduct an electronic audit trail to establish how the information got into the system.

“The party submitted the names of the 10 candidates from the appeal process on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal, but the Commission rejected those approved candidates,” he said.

The party consequently demanded greater transparency from INEC and urged the commission to investigate the source and movement of the disputed candidates’ information on its electronic platform.

The NDC maintained that an electronic audit trail would help establish how the 10 names came to be listed as its candidates and provide clarity on the controversy ahead of the 2027 elections.