INEC Rejects Adebutu Petition, Clears Pantami and Gwarzo

Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission rejected Ladi Adebutu’s petition over his exclusion from the 2027 governorship candidate list and cleared Isa Ali Pantami and Abdulsalam Gwarzo to contest, with Gwarzo’s status subject to pending litigation. The decisions followed INEC’s review of complaints about candidate lists for governorship and State House of Assembly elections. In a statement, the commission said it upheld 66 petitions and rejected 64. It said the complaints concerned omissions, candidates whose names were absent from party membership registers, and alleged multiple nominations. INEC reported receiving 69 petitions from 12 political parties in 26 states concerning governorship candidates. Of those, 41 were successful and 28 rejected. For State House of Assembly races, it received 61 petitions from 11 parties in 11 states; 25 were upheld and 36 unsuccessful. An unnamed INEC source said Adebutu’s petition failed because his name was not on the candidate list submitted by the Peoples Democratic Party. Adebutu, the party’s candidate in Ogun State, had challenged his exclusion. Before the review, the PDP had maintained that he met the requirements for...