2027: PDP faction submits Jonathan’s candidacy to INEC despite recognition row

By Luminous Jannamike, Abuja

The Kabiru Turaki-led Interim National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Friday said it had manually submitted former President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential nomination and the names of its other candidates for the 2027 general elections to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, despite the electoral body’s refusal to recognise the committee.

The move deepens the party’s leadership crisis, with the Turaki camp insisting it validly nominated its candidates in line with the Electoral Act and warning of fresh legal action if INEC publishes a different list.

Addressing journalists, the committee’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, said the party opted for manual submission after INEC declined to provide access codes for electronic submission, insisting the codes were only an administrative convenience.

“Notwithstanding INEC’s refusal to provide us with the necessary access codes… we have successfully submitted, manually and in full compliance with the Electoral Act 2026, the list of candidates sponsored by the authentic Peoples Democratic Party,” Ememobong said.

He added that the submission, which included Jonathan’s presidential nomination and all governorship, National Assembly and state assembly candidates, was acknowledged by INEC.

Ememobong warned the commission against publishing any list other than the one submitted by the committee.

“Should the Commission publish names other than those lawfully submitted by us… we are exhausting every constitutional, legal and democratic avenue to ensure that our party is not hijacked or annexed to the ruling party,” he said.

He traced the dispute to the Supreme Court judgment on the PDP’s leadership, saying the party’s Board of Trustees and a requisitioned National Executive Committee meeting constituted the Interim National Working Committee after the ruling left the party without a legally recognised national leadership.

According to him, INEC declined to recognise the interim leadership despite being formally notified, forcing the party to seek judicial intervention.

Faulting the Federal High Court judgment, Ememobong said, “The judgment… reads more like an appeal on the judgment of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. It is clearly inconsistent with the extant decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal that form the foundation of our case.”

He said the party had appealed the judgment and would also challenge alleged discrepancies between the judgment delivered in court and the Certified True Copy.

The PDP also accused INEC of abandoning its neutrality.

“The Commission’s actions have regrettably reinforced the growing public perception that it is no longer acting with the impartiality expected of the nation’s electoral umpire,” Ememobong said.

He alleged that the commission withheld material facts in court proceedings involving the party and ignored congresses it monitored, warning that such actions were eroding public confidence in the electoral process.

Ememobong further alleged that the PDP was the first target of a broader campaign to weaken opposition parties and entrench one-party dominance.

“We were the pioneer target for opposition dismantling and capture… but it has now spread to almost all the opposition parties,” he said.

Calling on Nigerians to defend multi-party democracy, Ememobong warned that electoral authoritarianism undermines democratic consolidation before expressing confidence that the party would prevail.