INEC

Author: Gist Correspondent

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that nine registered political parties have collected access codes required to upload the particulars of their presidential and National Assembly candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections.

INEC National Commissioner for Voter Education and Publicity, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja, saying the parties had obtained the credentials needed to access the commission's online candidate nomination portal.

According to Haruna, the parties that have collected the access codes are Accord, Action Alliance, African Democratic Congress, All Progressives Congress, Labour Party, National Democratic Congress, National Democratic Party, Peoples Redemption Party and Social Democratic Party.

He explained that it is the responsibility of political parties intending to participate in the elections to formally request the access codes from the commission, stressing that INEC does not distribute them directly to party secretariats. He added that only individuals presenting duly signed authorisation letters from their respective party leaderships would be issued the codes.

Haruna urged political parties to comply strictly with the commission's candidate nomination guidelines, noting that party officials had already been trained on the nomination process. He also warned against delaying submissions until the final day, despite INEC extending the deadline for online submissions to midnight on the closing date.

Under the commission's timetable for the 2027 general elections, political parties are expected to submit nomination forms for presidential and National Assembly candidates between June 27 and July 11 through the designated online portal. The submission window for governorship and State House of Assembly candidates is scheduled to run from July 18 to August 8.