Former Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege of the Nigeria Democratic Congress and Iyabo Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party are among the candidates on the updated list for the 2027 general elections.

The Independent National Electoral Commission published the updated list of candidates for the National (Presidential and National Assembly) and state (Governorship and State Assembly) elections on Saturday.

Many had anticipated that Omo-Agege and Iyabo Obasanjo, who were aspirants in their respective parties before joining the NDC and PDP, might be affected by the Supreme Court’s judgment on the validity of Section 77 of the Electoral Act.

A close study of the list revealed that the names of the NDC candidate in Kano State, Abdulsalam Gwarzo, and the PDP candidate in Ogun State, Adebutu, were missing, with only former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy Ibrahim Ali Isa Pantami on the list.

However, the NDC was listed without a candidate, while in the column for comment the commission merely wrote “court Order”.

The updated lists of candidates published by the commission also include former Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege, who is the NDC senatorial candidate for Delta Central, and Iyabo Obasanjo, daughter of former President, who is the PDP senatorial candidate in Ogun Central.

The Commission said final clearance for Gwarzo will depend on the outcome of a subsisting court case.

Also listed without a candidate is Accord for the Presidential election, even though a Federal High Court in Abuja had asked the commission to recognise Olawepo Hashim as the party’s presidential candidate.

The Nation reported that the Accord Party has challenged the Federal High Court’s decision at the Court of Appeal, as the party has consistently said it did not present any candidate for the election because Hashim failed to meet the deadline for the expression of interest and sale of nomination forms.

The Nation also observed that the name of the NDC candidate in Kaduna, which was earlier omitted from the final list published on October 10, 2026, was published as Mohammed Sani Abbas instead of Danjuma La’ah, whose name was displayed during the claims and objections.

The updated list contained 20 new names of governorship candidates, with one additional name in Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Niger, Oyo, Taraba and Zamfara states; Kaduna, Cross River and Nasarawa had two new names included on the list, while Gombe and Kano states had three new names included (this includes the NDC with the space left blank). The list of parties contesting the election in Abia was reduced from 15 to 14.

According to the updated list, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) are fielding candidates in the 28 states where governorship elections will take place, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) are fielding candidates in 26 states, respectively.

The PDP has no candidates in Kebbi and Ogun states, while the NDC has no candidates in Abia and Ogun. The updated final list omitted the NDC candidate in Abia State, Ndubuisi Ogah, who had initially been on the final list.

The names of NDC candidates added to the list include John Odey Upan (Cross River), Shammah Danladi Dodo (Nasarawa) and Muktar Farouk Alhaji (Kebbi).

Although the Federal High Court in Gombe had nullified the nomination of former Minority Whip Ali Isa JC as a candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Balanga/Biliri federal constituency of Gombe State and banned him from recontesting the primary, the Commission published his name as a candidate in the election.

It was noted that none of the names published by the Commission before the Supreme Court’s judgment were affected by the changes the Commission made to the list of candidates.

The Commission had assured Nigerians that, after reviewing complaints from candidates and political parties, it would publish an updated final list of candidates on its website.

The Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, confirmed that some petitions were successful, while others failed.

The statement reads: “Further to its Press Statement of 13th October, 2026, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) wishes to inform political parties, candidates and the general public of the outcome of its consideration of complaints received following the publication of the final lists of Governorship and State Houses of Assembly candidates on 10th October, 2026.

“The complaints concerned the omission of certain political parties, the wrongful inclusion of candidates of political parties whose names were not contained in the membership registers submitted by their political parties, and instances of alleged multiple nominations.

“Following a review of the complaints, relevant records and applicable legal provisions, the Commission found merit in some representations and approved the inclusion of affected candidates and their political parties, while complaints found to be without merit were declined.

“In addition, some names that were wrongfully published in the final list were removed after verifying that their names were not on the register.”

“The Commission also approved the removal of candidates whose nominations were found to be inconsistent with the applicable legal requirements. In particular, the decisions affecting State Houses of Assembly candidates sponsored by political parties were informed by specific complaints received and determined in accordance with the law and the Commission’s established criteria.

“In summary, a total of 69 petitions were received from 12 political parties across 26 states for the governorship election. Forty-one of the petitions succeeded while 28 failed. Similarly, for the State Houses of Assembly, 61 petitions were received from 11 political parties across 11 states. Twenty-five succeeded while 36 failed.” (The nation)