PDP Faction Submits Goodluck Jonathan’s 2027 Presidential Nomination to INEC Amid Leadership Crisis

The Kabiru Turaki-led Interim National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has manually submitted former President Goodluck Jonathan's 2027 presidential nomination to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), despite the electoral body's refusal to recognise the committee.

The development marks another twist in the PDP's prolonged leadership crisis, with the Turaki-led faction insisting it is the party's legitimate leadership and warning of legal action if INEC publishes a different list of candidates.

Addressing journalists, the committee's National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, said the party opted for manual submission after INEC allegedly refused to provide the electronic access codes required for online submission of candidates.

According to him, the electronic access codes are merely an administrative tool and not a legal requirement under the Electoral Act.

"Notwithstanding INEC's refusal to provide us with the necessary access codes, we have successfully submitted, manually and in full compliance with the Electoral Act 2026, the list of candidates sponsored by the authentic Peoples Democratic Party," Ememobong stated.

He said the list submitted to INEC included Jonathan's presidential nomination, as well as the party's governorship, National Assembly, and State House of Assembly candidates, adding that the electoral commission acknowledged receipt of the documents.

Ememobong warned INEC against recognising or publishing any candidate list other than the one submitted by the interim committee.

He stressed that the faction was prepared to pursue all available constitutional and legal remedies if the commission accepted a different list.

According to him, the leadership dispute arose from a Supreme Court judgment that allegedly left the PDP without a legally recognised national leadership, prompting the party's Board of Trustees and a requisitioned National Executive Committee meeting to establish the Interim National Working Committee.

He alleged that although INEC was formally notified of the new leadership, the commission declined to recognise it, forcing the party to seek judicial intervention.

The PDP faction also criticised a recent Federal High Court ruling, describing it as inconsistent with earlier decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.

Ememobong disclosed that the party has appealed the judgment and plans to challenge what it described as discrepancies between the judgment delivered in court and its Certified True Copy.

The committee further accused INEC of abandoning its neutrality, claiming the commission's actions have strengthened public perception that it is no longer acting as an impartial electoral umpire.

According to the PDP faction, INEC also withheld key facts during court proceedings involving the party and failed to acknowledge congresses it had monitored, actions it said were undermining public confidence in Nigeria's electoral process.

Ememobong alleged that the PDP was the first opposition party targeted in a wider effort to weaken opposition politics and promote one-party dominance in the country.

Calling on Nigerians to defend the country's multi-party democracy, he warned that electoral authoritarianism poses a threat to democratic governance and expressed confidence that the party would eventually succeed through the courts.