The All Progressives Congress, (APC), has mocked opposition parties over their failure to meet the original deadline for submitting candidates for the 2027 general elections, after the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), extended the nomination deadline by three days.
INEC announced on Sunday that political parties now have until midnight on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, to upload the names and personal particulars of their presidential and National Assembly candidates through its Candidate Nomination Portal.
The commission disclosed the extension in a statement signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna.
According to INEC, the decision followed an appeal by the Inter-Party Advisory Council on behalf of political parties that were unable to complete the nomination process before the initial July 11 deadline.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission has approved the extension of the deadline for submission of lists of candidates for the 2027 Presidential and National Assembly Elections by political parties,” the statement read.
It added that the revised deadline had been extended from Saturday, July 11, to midnight on Tuesday, July 14, to allow affected parties to complete the process.
The electoral body said the extension reflects its commitment to ensuring an inclusive electoral process while operating within the provisions of the law.
Ahead of the extension, the APC had confirmed the successful upload of all its candidates to the INEC portal.
APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, announced on his verified X account that the party had completed the upload of its presidential, vice-presidential, Senate and House of Representatives candidates.
“I congratulate our candidates, leaders, and members of APC on the successful 100% upload of our Presidential, Vice Presidential, Senate, and House of Representatives candidates on the INEC Candidate Nomination Portal,” he wrote.
The ruling party uploaded 471 candidates, comprising its presidential and vice-presidential candidates, 109 senatorial candidates and 360 House of Representatives candidates.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, also confirmed it had completed the submission of its candidates.
PDP National Chairman, Abdulrahman Mohammed, described the exercise as “another milestone,” saying the party had successfully uploaded the names of its presidential candidate, running mate and National Assembly candidates.
Reacting to the deadline extension, the APC criticised opposition parties for failing to conclude their nomination processes within the original timeframe, arguing that the delay exposed weaknesses in their internal organisation.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, the ruling party said opposition parties had demonstrated a lack of organisational capacity despite having fewer candidates to manage.
“While INEC acted within its statutory powers and administrative discretion in extending the deadline for opposition parties to upload names of their candidates, it is noteworthy that the extension was necessitated by the stark failure of opposition parties to manage their internal processes to comply with INEC’s submission deadline despite having fewer candidates to manage compared to the APC,” the statement read.
The APC argued that parties unable to effectively manage their nomination processes could not be trusted with governing the country.
The party also accused the opposition of hypocrisy, noting that parties which had previously alleged that the APC influenced INEC’s decisions later sought and benefited from the commission’s extension.
The ruling party maintained that completing its submissions ahead of the deadline demonstrated its organisational discipline and commitment to due process, urging its members to remain focused on preparations for the 2027 general elections.