Anxiety, Mixed Feelings As INEC Set to Unveil Final List Of 2027 Governorship, Assembly Candidates Today
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is set to release the final list of candidates for the February 6, 2027, governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections today, Saturday, October 10, 2026.
The publication is in line with Section 32(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, which requires the commission to publish the names and addresses of all nominated candidates at least 60 days before an election.
The law provides that INEC must display the list at its relevant offices and publish it on its official website to enable members of the public to access details of candidates contesting the elections.
Section 32(2) of the Act further stipulates that any registered political party that discovers its candidate’s name is missing from the published list must notify the commission in writing within 14 days of publication. Such notification must be signed by the party’s national chairman and secretary and supported by an affidavit.
Speaking at a world press conference and stakeholders’ meeting on Tuesday, INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, disclosed that 21 of the 22 registered political parties had nominated 936 governorship and deputy governorship candidates for the 28 states where governorship elections are scheduled to hold.
He also announced that 9,692 candidates had been nominated to contest seats in the various State Houses of Assembly across the country.
Sources within the commission told The Nation that officials had been compiling the final list of governorship and State Assembly candidates ahead of its scheduled release.
The 28 states scheduled to hold governorship elections are Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Delta, Enugu, Ebonyi, Abia, Niger, Nasarawa, Kwara, Benue, Plateau, Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Zamfara and Sokoto.
Governorship elections will not hold in Edo, Bayelsa, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Imo, Anambra and Kogi states during the 2027 electoral cycle.
However, State House of Assembly elections are scheduled to take place in all 36 states of the federation, as the Federal Capital Territory does not have a state legislature.
As of the time of filing this report, the specific political parties that failed to nominate candidates for the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections could not be independently verified. The breakdown of candidates by political party was also unavailable.
The window for substituting candidates for the governorship and State Assembly elections closed on Saturday, September 19, 2026, while the deadline for submitting nomination forms, EC 13A–E, was Saturday, September 26, 2026.