INEC omits Pantami and Adebutu from final governorship lists, lists Chinda in Rivers

The Independent National Electoral Commission has left Isa Pantami and Ladi Adebutu off its final governorship candidate lists for Gombe and Ogun states, while listing Kingsley Chinda as the APC candidate in Rivers State for the 2027 elections.

The lists published on Saturday contain 16 governorship candidates in Gombe and 13 in Ogun, without a PDP candidate in either state.

Pantami’s omission comes after he won a court-ordered PDP primary rerun on September 29. He polled 2,054 votes, ahead of Khamisu Mailantarki’s 389 and Aliyu Garry’s 112, according to Channels Television.

The Federal High Court in Gombe had nullified the earlier primary on September 24 and ordered a fresh exercise within 30 days. NaijaTrend reported Pantami’s rerun victory here.

Channels Television reported that Mailantarki challenged Pantami’s eligibility, alleging that he joined the PDP after the deadline for submitting the party’s membership register to INEC. That allegation is not a stated explanation from INEC for the omission.

Pantami’s campaign organisation and the Pantamiyya Movement urged supporters to remain calm in an October 10 statement. They said their legal and liaison teams were engaging with the party and INEC to address the omission.

In Ogun, Daily Trust reported that Adebutu and his running mate, Yemi Sowunmi-Kolapo, were absent from the final list. Premium Times reported that the Ogun PDP rejected allegations that Adebutu’s name was missing from its membership register, insisting that he was duly registered and that the party had met the submission requirements.

Premium Times said the commission’s documents did not give reasons for the omissions. The report placed the exclusions after the Supreme Court’s September 24 ruling restoring Electoral Act provisions on the membership registers used for party primaries.

In Rivers, Chinda is a member of the House of Representatives. Premium Times reported that the Rivers APC maintained his candidacy was valid despite questions over the timing of his registration and defection from the PDP.

Sources: Premium Times, Channels Television, Daily Trust