Politics

On 24 September 2026, a seven-member Supreme Court panel led by Justice Adamu Jauro upheld Sections 77(5)-(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, set aside the Court of Appeal's partial nullification, and awarded ₦2 million costs against the ZLP.

INEC says it excluded parties that failed the membership-register requirement when finalising the governorship lists, acting under Section 287(1) of the Constitution.

The final Gombe list carries 16 governorship candidates and no PDP candidate, although Isa Pantami won a rerun PDP primary on 29 September 2026.

In Ogun the list carries 13 candidates with no PDP entry; in Cross River 8 are listed, with the ADC's Nkoyo Toyo and the NDC's John Upan Odey Jr. absent; Benue's list of 12 omits the SDP's Sebastine Hon; the NDC's Aminu Gwarzo (Kano) and Danjuma La'ah (Kaduna) are also missing.

The excluded candidates were left off because their parties failed to register them in time.

The Supreme Court judgment automatically disqualified the affected candidates.

INEC gave parties that believed a candidate was wrongly omitted until 24 October 2026 to notify it, under Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act 2026.

Research 8020's survey gives Ruto 26 percent support in a hypothetical 2027 presidential race, one point ahead of Edwin Sifuna on 25 percent.

The same survey puts Kalonzo Musyoka on 11 percent, Fred Matiang'i on 9 percent and Rigathi Gachagua on 7 percent.

The survey was conducted in September 2026 and covered 3,760 respondents across all 47 counties.

The 2027 race is effectively tied.

In the Research 8020 survey, 65 percent of respondents named the cost of living as a major concern and 58 percent named unemployment.