The Kabiru Turaki-led Interim National Working Committee (INWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it has manually submitted the name of former President Goodluck Jonathan to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
The faction also said it submitted the names of its governorship and National Assembly candidates despite its inability to access INEC’s digital portal.
Faction cites lack of portal access
National Publicity Secretary of the faction, Ini Ememobong, disclosed this during a news conference in Abuja on Thursday. He explained that the candidates’ names were submitted manually because the faction did not receive access to INEC’s online portal. According to him, the manual submission complied fully with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.
“We are pleased to announce that we have successfully submitted, manually, and in full compliance with the Electoral Act 2026, the entirety of the list of candidates sponsored by the authentic PDP.”
He maintained that INEC’s access codes were merely an administrative convenience and not a legal requirement.
“This submission contains the names of our presidential candidate, former President Goodluck Jonathan, as well as all governorship and National Assembly candidates, receipt of which has been duly acknowledged by INEC.”
Faction accuses INEC of bias
Ememobong urged members of the faction not to lose hope if INEC fails to publish the names of its candidates. He said the group would continue to pursue constitutional and legal options to protect what it described as the authentic PDP. He also accused the electoral commission of failing to remain neutral in matters involving the party.
“In every matter involving our party, including court proceedings before even the Ibadan convention, INEC officials withheld or failed to acknowledge material facts which they witnessed.”
According to him, the commission appeared to understand the internal affairs of the PDP in favour of one faction.
Appeal filed against court judgement
Ememobong disclosed that the faction had appealed the judgement of the Federal High Court in Abuja delivered by Justice Salim Ibrahim. He argued that the ruling was inconsistent with previous decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.
The faction had approached the Federal High Court seeking an order compelling INEC to recognise its interim National Working Committee. However, Ememobong said the court addressed issues that had already been settled by superior courts.
“It is for this reason that we have exercised our constitutional right of appeal, and I can tell you that we have appealed that judgement.”
Questions over certified judgement
The PDP faction also expressed concern over the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Federal High Court judgement. Ememobong claimed the document released to the party did not fully reflect portions of the judgement delivered in open court.
He, however, said the faction remained committed to resolving the dispute through legal means while preserving Nigeria’s multi-party democracy. The Turaki-led faction ratified Jonathan as its presidential candidate on May 30 ahead of the January 2027 presidential election. However, the former president has yet to publicly comment on the nomination.
Meanwhile, another PDP leadership led by Abdulrahman Mohammed and backed by Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike had earlier affirmed former Senator Sandy Onor as its presidential candidate and uploaded his details to the INEC portal.
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