The disagreement between the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the nomination of 10 candidates for various State House of Assembly constituencies in Anambra State has deepened as the party rejected the commission’s explanation on how the candidates’ names appeared on its portal.
The NDC had accused INEC of “smuggling” the names of 10 people it said were not its approved candidates into the commission’s portal and publishing them as the party’s candidates for the 2027 elections.
But INEC denied the allegation, saying the names were contained in EC9E forms duly submitted to the commission and signed by the NDC’s national chairman and national secretary.
The commission said political parties have the exclusive responsibility for nominating and submitting candidates and that it had no legal authority to select, insert or substitute candidates for any party.
INEC also explained that the login details for its portal were sent exclusively to the party’s chairperson for uploading the candidates’ details.
