INEC Deadline: 3 Major Parties Missing as Portal Closes – They are?

Three political parties had yet to upload the names of their presidential and vice-presidential candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal ahead of Tuesday’s 11:59 p.m. deadline, according to a senior INEC official.

The official, who spoke anonymously, identified the affected parties as the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the Nyesom Wike-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Nenadi Usman-led faction of the Labour Party (LP).

“As of now, only about three political parties are yet to upload the names of their presidential and running mate candidates. They are APGA, the PDP (Wike faction) and the LP (Nenadi faction). Virtually every other party has filed its candidates,” the official said.

INEC had extended the submission deadline following requests from political parties but maintained that no further extension would be granted. The commission is expected to begin processing all submissions in line with the Electoral Act after the portal closes.

Major parties, including the APC, ADC and NDC, successfully uploaded their presidential tickets. However, INEC sources said some parties submitted only presidential candidates without running mates, while uncertainty remained over some National Assembly candidates in Benue, Kwara and Nasarawa states.

Meanwhile, concerns persist over the status of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) following the Court of Appeal judgment on the party’s leadership. Despite the ruling, INEC’s portal continued to recognise David Mark as ADC National Chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary as of Tuesday.

The ADC also urged the arrest and prosecution of former Deputy National Chairman, Nafiu Bala Gombe, after INEC declared as forged a document he allegedly circulated claiming he had obtained the commission’s access code and uploaded candidates.

The party said INEC’s clarification confirmed its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and running mate, Rotimi Amaechi, were validly uploaded to the nomination portal.

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Similarly, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) confirmed it had uploaded the names of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and running mate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, after securing access to the INEC portal.

The Wike-backed PDP also claimed it had successfully submitted its presidential, vice-presidential and National Assembly candidates.

“This is a clear demonstration of our commitment to the promise we made that, under my leadership, the PDP will fully participate in the 2027 general elections. today, we have taken another decisive step towards fulfilling that promise,” Takushara said.

Meanwhile, the fate of Accord Party presidential aspirant Olawepo Gbenga-Hashim remains uncertain as a court adjourned his case until Wednesday. He is seeking an order compelling the party to recognise him as its lawful presidential candidate and submit his name to INEC, or alternatively conduct a fresh primary. As of press time, it could not be independently confirmed whether his name had been uploaded to the INEC portal.