The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that it will decide the fate of former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami; Aminu Gwarzo; Ladi Adebutu; and other politicians omitted from its final list of candidates for the February 6, 2027, governorship elections at its next meeting on Thursday.
The Independent Mirror reports that INEC National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna disclosed this to Punch on Wednesday.
Pantami is contesting the Gombe State governorship election, while Gwarzo is seeking the Kano State governorship on the platform of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
Their names, alongside that of Adebutu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State and the NDC’s Kaduna State candidate, Danjuma Laah, among others, were omitted from the final list published by INEC on October 10.
INEC also excluded the governorship candidates of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Action Alliance (AA) and Accord Party in Bauchi State.
The affected candidates are Abdullahi Yakubu, Musa Zubairu, Ahmed Shuaibu and Mohammed Aminu, respectively.
The development triggered protests and legal moves by the affected politicians and their parties.
The commission is expected to deliberate on the matter amid uncertainty over whether the affected candidates will be reinstated following complaints by their political parties.
“As for the final list of candidates, we will meet at our next commission meeting on Thursday,” Haruna said.
Read also: BREAKING: Pantami’s Name Missing as INEC Releases Final List of Gombe Governorship Candidates
INEC had attributed the exclusions to the failure of the affected political parties to submit their membership registers within the period stipulated by law.
The decision followed the Supreme Court judgment of September 24, 2026, which upheld the constitutionality of Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026. The provisions require political parties to submit their membership registers to INEC before conducting valid primaries, congresses and conventions.
In its explanation, the commission said the apex court had affirmed the legality of its timetable, which required political parties to submit their membership registers between April 21 and May 10, 2026.
“In particular, the court upheld the constitutionality of Item No. 2 of INEC’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities, which mandated political parties to submit their membership registers between 21st April and 10th May, 2026,” the commission stated.
INEC said political parties that failed to comply with the requirement were ineligible to sponsor candidates in the elections.
The commission also relied on Section 287(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which requires authorities to enforce decisions of competent courts, in applying the Supreme Court judgment to the final list of governorship candidates.
However, the affected parties have maintained that they complied with the relevant legal provisions and urged INEC to correct what they described as wrongful omissions.
The PDP had approached the commission over the exclusion of Pantami and Adebutu. The party’s National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, also deposed an affidavit at the Federal High Court Registry in Abuja on October 15, challenging the omissions.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mohammed Jungudo, said the party’s leadership and the candidates’ legal teams were engaging INEC over the matter. He added that legal action remained an option if the commission failed to resolve the dispute.
In Ogun State, the PDP expressed confidence that Adebutu would be included in a revised list.
The Ogun PDP Chairman, Abayomi Tella, described Adebutu’s exclusion as an error, insisting that the party had fulfilled all the legal requirements for his nomination.
“The party views the omission as an error by INEC; we are very confident and optimistic that INEC will restore the name because every requirement of the law has been fulfilled,” Tella said.
In Gombe State, an aide to Pantami said the former minister would pur
