The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of removing its nominated candidates for the 2027 Anambra State House of Assembly election and replacing them with “impostors”.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Moses Zuwoghe, national chairman of the NDC, alleged that the list of candidates published by INEC contained 10 “strange names” that were not submitted or authorised by the party.
Zuwoghe described the development as a deliberate attempt to undermine the party ahead of the 2027 general elections and create dissatisfaction among its supporters.
“The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, totally condemns the action of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its officials over the uploading and publication of unauthorized names in various constituencies, principally in the Anambra State House of Assembly (home state of our Presidential Candidate, His Excellency Peter Obi), where ten (10) names, unknown to the party; names not authorized by the party; names not sent by the party to INEC, in accordance with the law, have now been uploaded and published as candidates of the party,” the statement reads.
The NDC chairman maintained that he did not upload the disputed names to the INEC portal and alleged that the names were inserted into the commission’s system by its officials.
“I, as Chairman of the Party and custodian of the code given to the NDC for the upload of our candidates, never uploaded those names, and I unequivocally state that the party did not also upload those nine names.”
The names listed by the party include Umennaajiego Jude Ezenwa (Onitsha South 1), Akpotue Obinna Chibuike (Onitsha South 2), Nwankwo Chiemerie (Orumba North), Maduagwu Eric K (Anaocha 1) and Ngoebisi Obinna (Idemili North).
Others are Isintume Charles (Njikoka 1), Nwachukwu Nonso (Nnewi South), Okeke Ifeanyi Akunne (Nnewi South 2), Nnonyelu Samson E (Ayamelum), and Azotani Chuks Francis (Dunukofia).
NDC calls for investigation into alleged ‘INEC-chosen imposters’
Zuwoghe described the alleged action as unacceptable, arguing that it contravenes the Electoral Act and INEC’s own guidelines.
He said that where the candidates submitted by a political party do not correspond with names received by INEC monitoring teams, the commission should leave the relevant positions vacant rather than upload names the party did not submit.
The NDC chairman called on the INEC chairman to urgently investigate the matter and determine how the disputed names were uploaded.
He further requested that the investigation be expanded to other constituencies across the country where the party claimed similar incidents had occurred.
“The same investigation should also be carried out in other constituencies like Benue, Imo and others, as this mischief has not only caused an embarrassment to the party, its leadership and genuine candidates, but has also caused a lot of disaffection among the millions of the party’s supporters all over the country and in the Diaspora,” he said.
Zuwoghe also criticised what he described as “an emerging pattern whereby INEC deliberately prevents parties from uploading their rightful candidates, while criminally handpicking candidates for the parties and instigating a crisis of confidence and internal disharmony within the said parties”.
He vowed that the party would continue to pursue the matter until the alleged irregularities were reversed and its authentic candidates restored.
“Even as we move to approach the court of competent jurisdiction to seek redress and restore our authentic candidates, the general public and our millions of supporters should note that these are not our candidates,” he said.