With less than a week to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s July 11 deadline for the submission of presidential nomination forms, political parties have intensified efforts to beat the cutoff, while attention remains fixed on President Bola Tinubu’s delayed announcement of his running mate for the 2027 presidential election.
INEC fixed 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, as the deadline for political parties to upload the nomination forms of their presidential and National Assembly candidates through its online nomination portal, in accordance with Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026.
While most major parties have concluded or are finalising the submission of their presidential tickets, the ruling All Progressives Congress is yet to formally unveil Tinubu’s vice-presidential candidate, fuelling fresh political interest despite widespread speculation that Vice President Kashim Shettima will retain the slot.
The commission commenced the submission exercise on June 27 using Forms EC9 and EC9A to EC9E. It also scheduled the submission of governorship and state House of Assembly candidates between July 18 and August 8.
Under the electoral timetable, INEC will publish the personal particulars of presidential and National Assembly candidates on August 1, while those of governorship and state Assembly candidates will be displayed on August 29.
So far, the African Democratic Congress has submitted the names of its presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and his running mate, former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi.
The Nigeria Democratic Congress has also uploaded the nomination of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, alongside his running mate, former Kano State governor Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Apart from Tinubu, the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Sandy Onor, is also yet to announce a running mate.
Tinubu secured the APC presidential ticket in the party’s nationwide primaries held on May 23 after defeating his only challenger, Stanley Osifo, by a landslide. He formally received the party’s flag and certificate of return the following day in Abuja.
His delay in naming a running mate has kept political observers guessing, particularly against the backdrop of reports over the past year suggesting strains within the Tinubu-Shettima political alliance.
Those speculations intensified after an APC North-East stakeholders’ meeting in Gombe descended into chaos when supporters of Shettima allegedly attacked the party’s then North-East Zonal Vice Chairman, Mustapha Salihu, over what they perceived as the deliberate omission of the Vice President from endorsements of Tinubu’s second-term bid.
Although the APC has consistently maintained that the choice of a running mate remains the President’s prerogative, party sources insist preparations for the submission of candidates are progressing smoothly.
Highly placed APC officials disclosed that the party has already uploaded the Senate nomination forms of several prominent candidates, including Governors AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara, Mai Mala Buni of Yobe and Hope Uzodimma of Imo States.
One party source said the APC was working round the clock to complete the upload of all candidates before the INEC deadline.
“We have covered a lot of ground. The nomination process is going according to plan. Most House of Representatives candidates have been uploaded, while the details of principal officers of the National Assembly and other prominent lawmakers have also been submitted,” the source said.
Another senior party official described the exercise as seamless and expressed confidence that Tinubu’s nomination and that of his running mate would be uploaded before July 11.
Political observers note that the APC still has room to manoeuvre even if consultations over the vice-presidential slot continue beyond this week.
INEC’s timetable allows political parties until August 22 to withdraw or substitute presidential and National Assembly candidates, meaning the ruling party could adopt the “placeholder” option previously deployed ahead of the 2023 elections.
Tinubu adopted the same strategy in June 2022 when he initially submitted the name of Ibrahim Masari as his vice-presidential nominee to beat INEC’s deadline before replacing him with Shettima the following month after concluding consultations.
Masari subsequently joined the Tinubu administration, first as Senior Special Assistant on Political Matters before being elevated to Special Adviser on Political Affairs.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party said it had completed about 60 per cent of the upload of its National Assembly candidates.
PDP National Organising Secretary Umar Bature said approximately 169 nominations were still outstanding because some candidates had yet to submit the required documents.
He expressed confidence that the exercise would be concluded before the deadline, stressing that the party remained committed to complying fully with INEC’s timetable.
