‎… PDP, APC upload candidates to portal

‎…NDC, SDP report progress

… NNPP battles leadership dispute

‎By Teddy Nwanunobi

‎Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Inter-Party Advisory Council’s appeal to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on behalf of political parties, has yielded efforts, as the Commission has approved the extension of the deadline for political parties to submit the lists of their candidates for the presidential and National Assembly elections.

‎According to a statement issued on Sunday by INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, the Commission said the deadline had been changed from Saturday, July 11, to midnight on Tuesday, July 14, 2026.

‎“The decision to extend was based on an appeal by the Inter-Party Advisory Council, on behalf of political parties who were unable to upload the names and personal particulars of their candidates within the scheduled timeline,” the statement stated.

‎According to INEC, the extension underscored its commitment to ensuring inclusivity in its practices while acting within the ambit of the law.

‎The Commission enjoined political parties to take advantage of this window of opportunity and ensure that all necessary details are uploaded before the new deadline expires.

‎Without extending the deadline, both Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) faction led by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had already uploaded their lists before the initial deadline.

‎The PDP faction’s National Chairman, Abdulrahman Mohammed, in a statement issued on Sunday, announced the successful upload of the names of its presidential candidate, running mate, and National Assembly candidates to the INEC portal.

‎Mohammed said the submission demonstrated the party’s commitment to participating fully in the 2027 general elections.

‎“I am pleased to inform all PDP members and Nigerians that our great Party, under my leadership, has successfully uploaded the names of our Presidential Candidate, his Running Mate, and our National Assembly candidates onto the INEC Candidate Nomination Portal.

‎“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,” he added.

‎A screenshot from the INEC PCR Portal accompanying the announcement shows the PDP dashboard with 410 new candidate forms registered, of which 367 have been submitted, and 42 remain pending.

‎The PDP Chairman said the party was awaiting the completion of the upload of its governorship and State Houses of Assembly candidates.

‎He congratulated members of the party on the completion of the latest phase of the nomination process.

‎“As we await the conclusion of the upload of our Governorship and State Houses of Assembly candidates, I, on behalf of the National Working Committee of our party, extend my heartfelt congratulations to all PDP members across Nigeria and around the world.

‎“Together, we will continue to build a stronger, more united Party and a better future for our nation,” he said.

‎Similarly, the APC said that it has successfully uploaded the names of 471 candidates for the general elections to the INEC Candidate Nomination Portal.

‎The APC National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, who disclosed this on Saturday on X, said that his party had uploaded the names of candidates for president, vice-president, the Senate, and others into the INEC portal.

‎“I congratulate our candidates, leaders, and members of APC on the successful 100 per cent upload of our Presidential, Vice Presidential, Senate, and House of Representatives candidates on the INEC Candidate Nomination Portal (ICNP).

‎“With this milestone achieved, our focus now shifts to mobilisation and preparations for a successful campaign and decisive victory at the polls,” he said.

‎Daily NewsCraft reports that the APC has completed the upload of its 471 candidates, including President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, 109 Senate candidates, and 360 House of Representatives candidates, to the INEC portal.

‎There is substantial progress by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). But the same cannot be said of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) who presented differing accounts, reflecting the ongoing leadership dispute within the party.

‎The NDC National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, said the party had successfully uploaded the names of its candidates with minimal challenges.

‎“The NDC has been uploading the names of its candidates successfully with minimal challenges. We are hopeful that we will successfully upload all the names within INEC’s deadline,” he said.

‎Speaking on behalf of the faction of the NNPP recognised by INEC, the party’s National Chairman, Dr Agbo Major, said efforts were ongoing to ensure all cleared candidates were uploaded within the period prescribed by law.

‎“Though we had time constraints due to the late recognition of the National Working Committee I lead, we are working tirelessly to ensure that all candidates who have met the legal requirements and have been cleared by the party are uploaded on the INEC portal within the stipulated time allowed by law,” he said.

‎Also, the SDP National Publicity Secretary, Araba Rufus Aiyenigba, said the party had overcome initial technical challenges with the INEC portal and had made significant progress in uploading its candidates.

‎“Despite the initial difficulties we encountered with the inoperability of the INEC portal during the first few days, we are now comfortably uploading our candidates and have made substantial progress in formally nominating them,” he said.

‎According to him, the SDP has successfully uploaded the names and documents of its presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, and vice-presidential candidate, Dr Usman Bugaje.

‎He added that the party had also uploaded a substantial number of its National Assembly candidates across the states and remained confident of meeting the deadline.

‎However, the rival NNPP faction, formerly led by Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and now headed on an acting basis by Bala Mohammed, said it was unable to upload candidates because it was not issued the required access code by INEC.

‎The faction’s National Secretary, Dipo Olayoku, said although its officials participated in INEC’s two-day training on the upload process, the commission issued the access code to the Agbo Major-led National Working Committee (NWC).

‎“As I mentioned earlier, the access code was not given to us. INEC gave it to the other faction, so we do not know how the upload is going. Although our faction was invited for the two-day training on the upload process, the access code was issued to the other faction,” he said.

‎With the extension of the deadline till midnight on Tuesday, it is expected that political parties will have positive updates on the upload of their presidential and National Assembly candidates to the INEC portal.