Politics

7 APC Governors Excluded from 2027 Governorship Elections as INEC Upload Begins

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4 hours ago

7 APC Governors Excluded from 2027 Governorship Elections as INEC Upload Begins

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will not conduct governorship elections in eight states during the forthcoming general elections due to their off-cycle election calendar.

The affected APC states are Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi and Ondo where governorship elections are held outside the regular election timetable following various court rulings and electoral adjustments over the years.

Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara is the only APC governor who will not be seeking a return ticket after withdrawing from the governorship race in May. Announcing his decision at the time, Fubara said he stepped aside in the interest of the state.

He said, “Rivers State is bigger than any individual, and at this critical moment, the peace, stability, and unity of our dear state must take precedence over every personal interest.”

As a result, governorship contests will only be conducted in the remaining states of the federation where the tenure of incumbent governors aligns with the national election cycle.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has begun uploading the names of its governorship and State Houses of Assembly candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Candidate Nomination Portal (ICNP) ahead of the 2027 general elections, as the party moves to beat the August 8 submission deadline.

Findings at the APC National Headquarters in Abuja showed that the party’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) department started processing the nomination documents on Saturday.

The exercise covers 28 governorship candidates and 993 State Houses of Assembly candidates across the country.

The party is expected to give priority to 16 serving governors seeking second-term re-election. They include Governors Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Hyacinth Alia of Benue, Uba Sani of Kaduna, Abba Yusuf of Kano, Dikko Radda of Katsina, Nasir Idris of Kebbi, Umaru Bago of Niger, Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau, Ahmad Aliyu of Sokoto, Agbu Kefas of Taraba and Dauda Lawal of Zamfara, among others.

APC is also expected to upload the names of 12 first-time governorship candidates, including Obafemi Hamzat in Lagos, Solomon Adeola in Ogun, Ogundu Kingsley Chinda in Rivers, Eric Opah in Abia, Mohammed Abubakar in Bauchi, Mustapha Gubio in Borno, Jamilu Gwamna in Gombe, Ahmed Aliyu Wadada in Nasarawa and Baba Malam Wali in Yobe.