Political parties are racing to meet the July 11 deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission for the submission of presidential and National Assembly nomination forms ahead of the 2027 general election.
INEC fixed 6 p.m. on July 11 as the deadline for parties to upload the nomination forms of their presidential and National Assembly candidates through its online portal. The exercise began on June 27 in accordance with Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026.
The commission said the submission of nomination forms for governorship and state House of Assembly candidates will begin on July 18 and close on Aug. 8.
Under the timetable, INEC will publish the personal particulars of presidential and National Assembly candidates on Aug. 1, while those of governorship and state Assembly candidates will be published on Aug. 29.
So far, Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress has unveiled former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi as his running mate.
Similarly, Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress has named former Kano State governor Rabiu Kwankwaso as his vice-presidential candidate.
President Bola Tinubu the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, has yet to formally announce his running mate, although party sources said he is expected to retain Vice President Kashim Shettima.
If Shettima is retained, it would end months of speculation over the APC ticket and reaffirm the party’s decision to maintain its 2023 presidential pairing for the 2027 election.
Among the leading presidential candidates, only Tinubu and Sandy Onor of the Peoples Democratic Party have yet to announce their running mates.
Sources within the APC said the party has already uploaded the senatorial nomination forms of Kwara State Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq ,Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni and Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma to the INEC portal.
The sources added that the party is working to complete the upload of all candidates before the deadline and may adopt the same placeholder strategy it used in 2022 by submitting a temporary vice-presidential nominee before making a substitution ahead of the Aug. 22 deadline for candidate replacement.
Ahead of the 2023 election, Tinubu initially submitted the name of Ibrahim Masari as a placeholder vice-presidential candidate before replacing him with Shettima before the close of nominations.
An APC source said the party had already uploaded the nomination details of many House of Representatives candidates, principal officers in the National Assembly and several senatorial candidates.
Another party source said the process had been smooth and expressed confidence that Tinubu’s nomination and that of his running mate would be uploaded before July 11.
Meanwhile, officials of both the ADC and the Nigeria Democratic Congress confirmed that the names of their presidential candidates and running mates had already been uploaded to the INEC portal.
The Peoples Democratic Party also said it had uploaded about 60% of its National Assembly candidates.
PDP National Organising Secretary Umar Bature said approximately 169 senatorial and House of Representatives nominations remained outstanding because some candidates submitted their documents late.
He expressed confidence that the exercise would be completed before the deadline, adding that the party remained committed to complying with INEC’s timetable.
