The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that it will recognise only the candidates submitted by the Senator David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 general elections, effectively validating the nominations of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and 470 other candidates.
INEC National Commissioner, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed that the electoral body granted the David Mark-led leadership access to its candidate nomination portal following the Supreme Court judgment affirming the faction as the legitimate leadership of the party.
According to Haruna, the recognised ADC leadership has already submitted candidates for 471 elective positions, including two presidential candidates, 109 senatorial candidates and 360 House of Representatives candidates.
"Yes, we gave the Mark-led faction the code based on the recent Supreme Court judgment that affirmed his leadership of the party and the faction has since submitted most of its candidates for a total of 471 – presidential (2), senatorial (109) and House of Representatives (360) constituencies," Haruna said.
He added that the commission had no legal basis to accept nominations from the rival faction, noting that it had already lost its appeal for recognition.
"The court, however, did not say we should accept any submissions by the rival faction which, in any case, had lost its appeal for recognition," he stated.
Haruna further explained that INEC would wait for the Certified True Copy (CTC) of Monday's Court of Appeal judgment before issuing an official interpretation of its implications.
"INEC cannot say anything until we see the judgment. We have to see the details of the judgment first. Hopefully, in the next two days, within 48 hours, the court should release the judgment. We will study it, and then the commission will take a position," he added.
The clarification followed claims by the rival ADC faction led by Nafiu Gombe that it had obtained access to INEC's nomination portal and successfully uploaded candidates for the 2027 elections.
Reacting to the development, the ADC under David Mark welcomed INEC's clarification and accused the Gombe-led faction of attempting to deceive Nigerians.
In a statement signed by the party's National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said INEC had confirmed that the document circulated by Nafiu Gombe claiming access to the commission's nomination portal was forged.
"The African Democratic Congress (ADC) welcomes the prompt clarification by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which unequivocally confirmed that the document circulated by Mr Nafiu Bala purporting to show that he had obtained the commission's access code and uploaded candidates on behalf of the ADC for the 2027 general election was forged, and that the claim itself was entirely false," the statement read.
The party described the alleged false claim as a serious offence and urged INEC alongside security agencies to investigate and prosecute everyone involved.
According to the party, falsely claiming access to INEC's restricted nomination platform and exercising powers reserved for recognised party officials undermines the integrity of Nigeria's electoral process and should attract legal consequences.
The latest development comes after the Court of Appeal affirmed an earlier Federal High Court ruling restraining INEC from recognising state congresses conducted by committees appointed by the David Mark-led caretaker leadership.
However, the ADC maintained that the appellate court judgment was limited to the conduct of ward, local government and state congresses and did not invalidate the party's primary elections or the emergence of its candidates for the 2027 general elections.