INEC TO PUBLISH 2027 GOVERNORSHIP, ASSEMBLY CANDIDATES ON SATURDAY

The Independent National Electoral Commission will on Saturday, August 29, 2026, publish the list of candidates nominated by political parties for the 2027 governorship and State House of Assembly elections.

The publication is part of INEC’s preparations for the February 6, 2027 elections and is intended to give political parties, candidates and members of the public an opportunity to examine and verify the information submitted to the commission.

The 2027 governorship election will be conducted in 28 states, while State House of Assembly elections will take place across all 36 states of the federation. States scheduled to hold governorship elections include Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Enugu, Ebonyi, Abia, Kwara, Benue, Plateau, Niger and Nasarawa.

Other states where governorship elections will be held are Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi and Sokoto. The eight states of Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Edo, Bayelsa, Anambra, Imo and Kogi are excluded because their governorship elections were conducted at different points under Nigeria’s staggered electoral cycle.

INEC said 22 registered political parties are expected to field fresh candidates in states such as Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Kwara and Nasarawa, where the tenure of the incumbent governors will expire in 2027.

The commission is also expecting political parties participating in the presidential and National Assembly elections to submit their final candidate lists by Saturday. The deadline comes after the August 22 deadline for candidates seeking to withdraw from the forthcoming elections.

Under Section 31 of the Electoral Act 2026, candidates who wish to withdraw after being nominated are required to submit a written notice, signed by them and accompanied by an affidavit, directly to the political party that nominated them.

INEC is scheduled to publish the final list of presidential and National Assembly candidates on September 12, 2026. The list will cover candidates contesting the presidential election as well as those seeking seats in the Senate and House of Representatives.

With the August 29 deadline approaching, political parties are expected to complete outstanding nomination and substitution processes before INEC releases the governorship and State Assembly candidates.

The publication will mark another major step in the preparations for the 2027 general elections, as political parties move from internal nomination processes towards full-scale campaigns and mobilisation ahead of the February 2027 polls.