The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected the 2027 presidential nomination of former president Goodluck Jonathan submitted by the Taminu Turaki faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying the nomination did not comply with its submission guidelines.
The commission’s director of voter education and publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, confirmed the development, explaining that political parties can only submit candidates through INEC’s designated online nomination portal.
The Turaki faction of the PDP had earlier announced that it manually submitted Jonathan’s nomination alongside the names of its governorship, national assembly and state assembly candidates after it was denied access to the commission’s electronic nomination platform.
However, Eta-Messi said the commission does not recognise manual submission of candidates.
“Submission is only done on a dedicated portal as stipulated by our regulations and guidelines,” she said.
The commission’s decision effectively invalidates the nomination submitted by the Turaki faction and casts doubt on the status of other candidates presented by the group.
