The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has rejected claims that it failed to field governorship candidates in 11 states ahead of the 2027 general elections, insisting that it has candidates or placeholders across all 36 states.
The controversy followed claims by former presidential adviser Okoi Obono-Obla that the opposition party was facing a major electoral setback after failing to appear on the provisional governorship list in 11 states. He said the situation could affect the party’s grassroots mobilisation and ability to maintain polling-unit coverage during the election.
Obono-Obla cited the provisional list released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on August 29, claiming that the NDC had no governorship candidates in Cross River, Borno, Ebonyi, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara and Akwa Ibom.
He further claimed that the affected states account for 233 of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas, representing about 30.1 per cent of the country’s LGAs. He argued that the absence of candidates in those areas could leave the party without a visible ballot presence and weaken its ability to deploy agents and mobilise voters.
The former presidential adviser also claimed that the NDC had filed candidates for only 328 of the 469 National Assembly seats, potentially leaving about 141 federal constituencies without an NDC candidate. He said the alleged gaps could have a significant effect on the party’s performance in the presidential election.
The NDC has strongly disputed the claims. Osa Director, the party’s national publicity secretary, told TheCable on Monday evening that reports of the party’s absence from the affected states were false. He said the party had candidates across all states and explained that placeholders had been used in some cases, including Katsina and Niger.
Director also maintained that John Odey remains the NDC’s governorship candidate in Cross River State. He challenged those making the allegations to produce evidence showing that the party had no candidate or placeholder in the constituencies and states identified.
He argued that the issue should ultimately be determined by INEC’s official records rather than claims made by political actors. The dispute therefore places renewed attention on the commission’s provisional candidate lists and the processes governing substitutions and final candidate publication ahead of the 2027 election.
With the presidential contest approaching, the disagreement is more than a technical dispute. The presence or absence of candidates at state and federal constituency levels can affect ballot visibility, grassroots organisation and the ability of parties to deploy agents. The final INEC records will be crucial in determining whether the NDC’s claim of nationwide candidate coverage matches the official list.
