THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday released the final list of candidates for the 2027 general elections, bringing months of political uncertainty and intense speculation over party nominations to an end.
News Point Nigeria reports that several prominent politicians were absent from the final list, including former President Goodluck Jonathan, whom the Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had claimed to have nominated as its presidential candidate.
Also missing from the final list were the senator representing Delta North Senatorial District, Ned Nwoko; former Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel (Ogun East); former Gombe State Governor, Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central); and the senator representing Kebbi South Senatorial District, Garba Maidoki.
The publication of the final candidates’ list comes two months after Senate President Godswill Akpabio assured lawmakers who lost their return tickets during the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries that the party leadership was working to address grievances arising from the exercise.
However, findings by this newspaper showed that although the APC eventually reinstated six serving senators after reviewing petitions submitted to its Primary Election Appeal Committee, several influential politicians who had hoped to benefit from the review were ultimately excluded from the final list submitted to INEC.
In Delta State, the name of Senator Ned Nwoko was absent from the candidates’ list displayed at the INEC office in Asaba, while former Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, emerged as the APC’s senatorial candidate.
The development confirmed Nwoko’s earlier defeat in the APC senatorial primary election.
Similarly, in Gombe State, another political heavyweight, former Governor Danjuma Goje, failed to secure the APC senatorial ticket, losing out to retired Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Ahmed.
On the opposition side, former Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo clinched the PDP ticket for Gombe North Senatorial District, while Senator Anthony Siyako emerged as the party’s candidate for Gombe South Senatorial District.
In Bauchi State, two serving federal lawmakers were also absent from the final candidates’ list released by the electoral commission.
The affected lawmakers are Senator Shehu Buba, who represents Bauchi South Senatorial District, and Mansur Soro, the member representing Darazo/Ganjuwa Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
Findings by this newspaper revealed that Senator Buba, who was elected on the platform of the APC, would not be seeking re-election after defecting to the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), where he secured the party’s governorship ticket.
Soro had earlier announced that he would not contest either the Bauchi Central Senatorial seat or seek another term in the House of Representatives.
Last month, this newspaper reported that the APC National Working Committee overturned the victories of several senatorial candidates and reinstated six serving senators following the recommendations of the party’s Primary Election Appeal Committee.
The review exercise affected party primaries conducted in nine states, namely Kogi, Benue, Taraba, Ondo, Abia, Niger, Kwara, Kaduna and Ebonyi.
The reinstated senators were Sunday Karimi, Emmanuel Udende, Titus Zam, Shuaibu Isa Lau, Adeniyi Adegbonmire and Olajide Ipinsagba.
The party also replaced Edinburgh Uchenna Erondu with Prince Paul Ikonne as its senatorial candidate for Abia South.
One of the most significant outcomes of the review was the reversal of former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam’s earlier victory, with the APC restoring the ticket to the incumbent senator, Emmanuel Udende.