Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, the Kano State governorship candidate representing the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has seen his name left off the updated candidate roster for the 2027 general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Gwarzo had petitioned the commission over the omission of his name on the initial list published on October 10, 2026.
Mohammed Haruna, a National Commissioner at INEC, had revealed that Gwarzo’s petition was considered successful, “but publishing his name is subject to the final outcome of an ex-parte order by a Kano federal high court”.
The development has raised fresh questions over the status of the NDC governorship ticket.
The NDC had approached a Federal High Court in Abuja on October 27 to challenge the omission of its candidate’s name from the gubernatorial list. It sought an order to compel INEC to include his name.
On October 29, reports emerged that INEC had approved Gwarzo’s petition alongside that of former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, among other candidates whose names were initially omitted.
However, the clearance was reported to be subject to the outcome of pending court cases.
The latest update appears to have reversed the commission’s earlier position, with the new list retaining Gwarzo’s exclusion on the grounds of a court order.
The previous omission of Gwarzo’s name had sparked protests and calls for clarification from the NDC, which insisted that its candidates had fulfilled all the requirements for participation in the election.
The party had initially suggested that the omission resulted from a computer-related error and expressed confidence that INEC would rectify it.
But the commission had explained that its candidate-list decisions were influenced by legal requirements concerning the submission of political parties’ membership registers, following a September 24 Supreme Court judgment on the Electoral Act 2026.
The latest development has once again thrown the NDC’s participation in the Kano governorship race into uncertainty.
What You Should Know
The Independent National Electoral Commission has reversed its earlier consideration of Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo’s petition, leaving his name off the updated 2027 Kano State governorship candidate list due to an existing court order.
- Positive Impact: Respects ongoing judicial processes and Federal High Court rulings regarding candidate qualifications.
- Potential Concerns: Creates uncertainty for the National Democratic Congress and its supporters ahead of the upcoming gubernatorial elections in Kano State.
