PDP faction submits Jonathan’s candidacy to INEC despite recognition row

Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2027 presidential nomination has been manually submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the Kabiru Turaki-led Interim National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), despite the electoral body’s refusal to recognise the committee.

The move further deepens the party’s leadership crisis, with the Turaki-led faction insisting it validly nominated its candidates in line with the Electoral Act and warning of fresh legal action if INEC publishes a different list.

Addressing journalists, the committee’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, said the party resorted to manual submission after INEC declined to provide access codes for electronic submission, insisting the codes were only an administrative convenience.

“Notwithstanding INEC’s refusal to provide us with the necessary access codes… we have successfully submitted, manually and in full compliance with the Electoral Act 2026, the list of candidates sponsored by the authentic Peoples Democratic Party,” Ememobong said. He added that the submission, which included Jonathan’s presidential nomination alongside governorship, National Assembly and state assembly candidates, was acknowledged by INEC.

Ememobong also warned the commission against publishing any list other than the one submitted by the committee. “Should the Commission publish names other than those lawfully submitted by us… we are exhausting every constitutional, legal and democratic avenue to ensure that our party is not hijacked or annexed to the ruling party,” he said.

According to him, the dispute stems from the Supreme Court judgment on the PDP’s leadership, which he said left the party without a legally recognised national leadership, prompting the Board of Trustees and a requisitioned National Executive Committee meeting to constitute the Interim National Working Committee. He alleged that despite being formally notified, INEC declined to recognise the interim leadership, forcing the party to seek judicial intervention.

Faulting a recent Federal High Court judgment, Ememobong said: “The judgment… reads more like an appeal on the judgment of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. It is clearly inconsistent with the extant decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal that form the foundation of our case.”

He said the party had appealed the judgment and would also challenge alleged discrepancies between the judgment delivered in court and its Certified True Copy. The PDP also accused INEC of abandoning its neutrality. “The Commission’s actions have regrettably reinforced the growing public perception that it is no longer acting with the impartiality expected of the nation’s electoral umpire,” Ememobong said.

He further alleged that the electoral body withheld material facts during court proceedings involving the party and ignored congresses it monitored, warning that such actions were eroding public confidence in the electoral process. Ememobong also claimed the PDP had become the first target of a broader campaign to weaken opposition parties and entrench one-party dominance. “We were the pioneer target for opposition dismantling and capture, but it has now spread to almost all the opposition parties,” he said.

Calling on Nigerians to defend multi-party democracy, he warned that electoral authoritarianism undermines democratic consolidation and expressed confidence that the party would ultimately prevail.