Names missing in Gombe, Ogun, Kano: the court ruling that redrew the 2027 governorship lists
When INEC published the final governorship lists for 2027, some of Nigeria's best-known candidates were not on them — including the PDP's Isa Pantami in Gombe and Ladi Adebutu in Ogun. INEC says it was applying a Supreme Court judgment on party membership registers. The affected parties say their candidates were properly registered. We checked both versions.
Key points
- The Supreme Court ruled on 24 September 2026, INEC says, that parties which failed to submit membership registers under Sections 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act 2026 are ineligible to sponsor candidates.
- INEC applied the ruling while finalising the governorship lists, leaving the PDP without a candidate in both Gombe and Ogun.
- Affected parties were given until 24 October 2026 to tell INEC if they believed a candidate had been wrongly omitted.
- The presidential and National Assembly lists were untouched: they were published on 12 September, before the judgment.
What happened
The legal fight began when the Zenith Labour Party challenged the membership-register provisions of the Electoral Act 2026, arguing they interfered unconstitutionally in parties' internal affairs. The Federal High Court dismissed the suit in May 2026; the Court of Appeal partly voided the provisions in July; on 24 September a seven-member Supreme Court panel led by Justice Adamu Jauro restored them, holding Sections 77(5)-(7) and 84(2) constitutional.
The practical bite came weeks later. INEC's timetable had required parties to submit membership registers between 21 April and 10 May 2026. When the Commission finalised the governorship lists in October, it excluded parties it says missed that requirement — and the names that fell out included former minister Isa Ali Pantami, who had won a court-ordered rerun of the PDP primary in Gombe on 29 September.
Both sides, in their own words
Both sides heard. Neither believed for free. Publishing a side's version is not endorsing it — the claim checks below are where verdicts live.
Side A · INEC — the Commission's position
- The Supreme Court held the membership-register provisions constitutional and mandatory, and Section 287(1) of the Constitution obliged INEC to give effect to the judgment when finalising the lists.
- A party that failed to submit its register in the 21 April – 10 May window is ineligible to sponsor any candidate.
- Only the governorship lists were affected, because the presidential and National Assembly lists had already been published on 12 September, before the judgment.
Side B · The excluded parties and candidates
- Ogun PDP says Adebutu registered within the stipulated period and his details were submitted to INEC.
- The NDC attributes its Kaduna omission to errors in the online submission process, and candidates in Cross River and Benue describe theirs as bureaucratic errors.
- Senior lawyer M.O. Ubani argues the judgment restored the law's validity but did not itself order any individual candidate disqualified.
Independently verified
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. 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.Not yet verified
Nothing outstanding.Claim by claim
Why this label: The case is INEC v Zenith Labour Party, Appeal No. SC/CV/495/2026; the outcome is reported consistently across accounts of the judgment.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: From INEC's statement signed by National Commissioner and Information and Voter Education chairman Mohammed Kudu Haruna.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The rerun followed a Federal High Court decision nullifying the first primary; the list's contents are as published by INEC and reported state by state.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: All from the state-by-state account of the final lists.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: That is INEC's position. Against it: Ogun PDP insists Adebutu registered within the stipulated period and his information was submitted; the Kaduna NDC blames online submission errors; Odey and Hon call their omissions bureaucratic errors. The register records sit with INEC, so the accounts cannot all be right — and neither side has published the register extract.
On the ladder: credible sources conflict, so we show both workings. One side's own statement is that side's position — never proof.
Why this label: INEC reads the judgment as making non-compliant parties ineligible, full stop. Lawyer M.O. Ubani's analysis disagrees: the judgment restored the provisions' validity but made no blanket disqualification order — each nomination still turns on its own facts and the Act's court procedures.
On the ladder: credible sources conflict, so we show both workings. One side's own statement is that side's position — never proof.
Why this label: Stated by INEC in the same statement; that deadline has now passed.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- The judgment, the register window (21 April – 10 May 2026) and the lists' contents are documented.
- The notification deadline of 24 October 2026 has passed.
What we don't know yet
- Which parties formally notified INEC by the deadline, and whether any names have been restored.
- How the courts will treat the individual challenges — the pre-election suits are still to be heard.
Why it matters
Governorship races in at least six states now have a different shape from the one voters were offered at the primaries — in Gombe and Ogun, one of the two major parties has no candidate at all. Whether that stands will be decided by how the courts read a judgment about party paperwork, three months before polling day.
Background
Federal High Court, Abuja dismisses the ZLP's challenge to the membership-register provisions.
Court of Appeal partly voids the provisions on party primaries and membership registers.
INEC publishes the final presidential and National Assembly candidate lists.
Supreme Court restores Sections 77(5)-(7) and 84(2) in INEC v ZLP.
INEC publishes the final governorship and State Assembly lists, with the exclusions applied.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
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