Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Wednesday, insisted that their candidates for the 20127 general election were fully uploaded to the website of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as required by law, and in line with the commission’s guidelines.
INEC had, through one of its national commissioners, Haruna Mohammed, listed LP and PDP as some of the political parties that were yet to upload their candidates for the 2027 general election.
But reacting, the national publicity secretaries of LP and the PDP insisted that their candidates were fully uploaded to the authorised INEC website.
First to react was National Publicity of LP, Ken Asogwa, who said, “I wish to categorically state that Labour Party successfully completed the upload of the names of all its duly nominated candidates for the presidential and National Assembly elections ahead of the closure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nomination portal on 14th July, 2026.”
Asogwa stated, “Our attention has been drawn to media reports in certain quarters alleging that the Party failed to upload the names of its presidential and vice presidential candidates before the expiration of the INEC deadline.
“This claim is patently false, misleading, and exists only in the imagination of the purveyors of that fake news.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Labour Party successfully uploaded the names of its presidential and vice presidential candidates on 10th July, 2026, four clear days before the close of the INEC nomination window on 14th July, 2026. The process was completed seamlessly and in full compliance with the Commission’s guidelines.
“It is, however, disturbing that a media organisation would publish such a weighty and misleading report without making the slightest effort to verify the information with the leadership of the Labour Party, particularly when the story was purportedly sourced from an anonymous INEC official.
“This raises legitimate questions about the professional responsibility of the media organisation concerned and whether the publication was intended to serve some ulterior political objective rather than the public interest.”
Asogwa added, “In any event, INEC has already published its timetable for the release of the final list of validly nominated candidates for the 2027 General Elections. Once the commission makes the publication, Nigerians will clearly see the names of all duly nominated candidates of the various political parties, including those of the Labour Party, thereby putting this baseless misinformation to rest.
“We, therefore, urge our teeming members, supporters and the general public to disregard the fake report in its entirety. It bears all the hallmarks of idle beer parlour gossip masquerading as journalism.
“Those who have become unsettled by the renewed strength, growing acceptance and increasing momentum of the Labour Party should channel their energies into preparing for the electoral contest ahead rather than resorting to crude propaganda and discredited tactics.”
In a similar vein, National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Haruna Jungudo, said in a statement that it fully updated all its candidates as required by law.
Jungudo stated, “The attention of the Peoples Democratic Party has been drawn to the report published by Daily Trust on Wednesday, 15 July 2026, titled ‘3 Parties Fail To Submit Presidential Candidates As INEC Shuts Portal’, in which it was alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), under the leadership of His Excellency, Chief Nyesom Wike, was among the political parties that failed to upload the names of their presidential and vice-presidential candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal.
“This claim is categorically FALSE, MISLEADING, and a GROSS MISLEADING OF FACTS.”
Jungudo stated, “For the record, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) successfully uploaded the names and particulars of its Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates to the INEC nomination portal at exactly 11:50am on Thursday, 10 July 2026, in full compliance with the Commission’s requirements and within the stipulated timeline.
“It is, therefore, surprising that a reputable newspaper such as Daily Trust chose to publish a report founded on unverified information attributed to an anonymous source without seeking confirmation from the party.”
Chuks Okocha
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