Politics
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.
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A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Kenneth Okonkwo, has said that the imposition of N200 million and N150 million on presidential and governorship campaign billboards in Abia state is a pure handiwork of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Okonkwo made this allegation on Friday when he appeared on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’.
He also accused Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, of allowing himself to be used by the APC to impose such a huge amount on campaign billboards in the state.
“It’s unfortunate that in Nigeria, the ruling party has made it impossible for the opposition to strive. In Abia State, you are hearing a huge amount for you to put up your billboards for N200 million for a presidential candidate.
“Now, multiply N200 million by 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, you would see the perfidy. Just an opportunity to advertise and tell Nigerians what you want to do. APC is a scourge that wants to destroy our democracy.
“I’m surprised that Governor Otti will fall for that. As far I’m concerned, that is an APC agenda using Governor Otti to make it impossible for the opposition political parties to campaign, and it’s really unfortunate,” Okonkwo said.
DAILY POST reports that Abia State Structure for Signage and Advertising Agency, ABSSAA, placed N200 million fees on all 2027 presidential candidates who wish to display their political campaign structures in the state’s advertisement space.
dailypost.ng
A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Kenneth Okonkwo, on Friday urged President Bola Tinubu to resign instead of waiting to contest in the 2027 elections.
Okonkwo made the call on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, where spoke on the now overturned Abuja Federal High Court judgment that deregistered the ADC.
He said, “Everything about this judgment is queued towards frustrating the opposition and trying to coronate Tinubu according to the Minister of Aviation and not elect him in 2027 because Tinubu by his performance has gone back to Bourdillion with one flight ticket by 2027.
“Is it in the area of insecurity? I told you when you want to give an example of insecurity, you don’t need to refer to yesterday because it’s a daily occurrence. In Plateau, in Benue people are massacred in their numbers, people are beheaded in Oyo State and they want you to praise them for what they would have prevented.
“Life and the destruction of life is better prevented than cured because when somebody is killed, it’s final. Let me tell you a personal story that pains me, my worker, because most of the things you hear are nothing compared to the actual thing that is going on.
“My worker, they kidnapped the mother in Kaduna State and they were asking them for ransom and when they could not provide the hundreds of millions they were asking for, they broke two fingers of the mother. He is the only child of the mother, you can know the pains that I’m going through seeing these things.
“These ones are not reported, the issue here is that Tinubu should not even allow the election to hold, he should resign and go in peace.”
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A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Salihu Lukman, says he suspended his membership of the party out of frustration.
Lukman made this revelation on Friday when he featured on Arise Television’s ‘Morning Show’.
He emphasised the need for unity among the ADC leaders to tackle the various challenges bedeviling Nigeria as a nation, noting that the focus should be on the country and not the party.
The former Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, said he was ready to rejoin the ADC if it leads to a collective effort to present a credible candidate that can gain Nigerians’ confidence, irrespective of party affiliation.
“I suspended my ADC membership out of frustration. I am not speaking as an ADC member because Nigeria is facing a serious challenge.
“Partisan politics will not get us out of the situation we are in. I am prepared to retain my ADC membership if it helps bring all the party’s leaders together, because Nigeria is bigger than the ADC,” he said.
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