2027: INEC Says States To Publish Governorship, Assembly Candidates’ Lists
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said the release of the final lists of candidates for the 2027 governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections is the responsibility of its state offices, as…
INEC is constitutionally mandated to conduct and regulate elections in Nigeria, including publishing the final list of candidates once parties have concluded their nominations and the window for resolving disputes has lapsed. Ahead of the 2027 general election cycle, the commission has been decentralising aspects of this process, clarifying that state offices—not the national headquarters—bear responsibility for releasing governorship and State Houses of Assembly candidate lists for their respective states, a procedural point that has drawn attention as parties finalise their tickets nationwide.
Coverage varies in focus: while Leadership centres on INEC's clarification of which arm of the commission handles the publication, Vanguard and Premium Times zero in on Taraba State specifically, reporting that 19 governorship and deputy-governorship candidates have been cleared to contest, including incumbent Governor Agbu Kefas and figures who challenged him in the 2023 election. Neither report yet details the full list of candidates in other states or the timeline for similar publications nationwide, leaving open questions about when voters elsewhere can expect to see their own state's finalised contenders.