INEC Source: PDP, LP Have No Presidential Candidates For 2027 Election

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has failed to meet the deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for political parties to nominate their presidential, vice-presidential and National Assembly candidates for the 2027 election.
The development is contrary to an earlier claim by the PDP National Chairman, Abdulrahman Mohammed, that the party had uploaded the profile of its presidential candidate to INEC’s portal. Mohammed made the announcement in a statement on Sunday, saying the party, by taking the step, had demonstrated that it would participate in next year’s election.
The Prof. Joash Amupitan-led commission had set July 14 as the deadline for the parties to upload the profiles of their candidates to its portal. The deadline was initially set for July 11 by the electoral body, which later moved it, citing pressure from major stakeholders in the country.
The new deadline ended at midnight on Tuesday.
According to Daily Trust, the PDP and two other parties, the Labour Party (LP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), failed to beat the deadline. It is, however, unclear why the three parties did not nominate presidential and vice-presidential candidates to INEC, but analysts insist that they may have decided to do so because of their perceived support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s presidential bid.
The incumbent is seeking to return to office next year and has been nominated by his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, which has submitted his profile and that of his running mate, Kashim Shettima, to INEC as its flagbearer.
While the PDP faction led by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, has declared its support for President Tinubu, the Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Soludo, who is also the leader of APGA, has also thrown his weight behind the APC presidential candidate.
It, however, remains unclear why the LP did not nominate a presidential candidate to INEC. But sources close to the Governor of Abia State informed the magazine that the only LP governor in the country may have stopped the party from sponsoring a presidential candidate for next year’s election in order not to rock the boat with Tinubu and the APC. The decision may have also been taken because the party lacks the financial capacity to sponsor a candidate, according to the sources.
According to the newspaper, which quoted sources, the PDP, APGA and LP were the only parties that failed to submit the names of their presidential and vice-presidential candidates to the commission.
Other parties running in the 2027 election, including the ruling APC, had all submitted the profiles of their presidential candidates to INEC before the deadline ended yesterday, the newspaper reported, quoting a top official of the commission.
“As of now, only about three political parties are yet to upload the names of their presidential and running mate candidates. They are APGA, the PDP (Wike faction) and the LP (Nenadi faction). Virtually every other party has filed its candidates,” the official said.
The parties that successfully uploaded their candidates include the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is fielding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima for re-election; the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which uploaded the names of its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and his running mate, Rotimi Amaechi; and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), which uploaded the names of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.