The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has uploaded the details of 27 governorship candidates and their running mates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Candidate Nomination Portal (ICNP) ahead of the August 8 deadline.
The party has also uploaded the particulars of more than 60 per cent of its candidates contesting seats in the various State Houses of Assembly.
Findings indicated that the APC’s ICT department has completed the upload for candidates in 27 of the 28 states conducting governorship elections, with disagreement over the deputy governorship slot in one North-West state delaying the final submission. 
A source on the APC National Working Committee (NWC) Vetting Committee, chaired by Hon. Jibrin Bancir, disclosed that 15 of the 16 incumbent governors seeking re-election had been cleared and uploaded to the portal.
Also uploaded were the details of 12 first-time governorship candidates and their running mates, including Obafemi Hamzat (Lagos), Solomon Adeola (Ogun), Ogundu Kingsley Chinda (Rivers), Eric Opah (Abia), Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi), Mustapha Gubio (Borno), Jamilu Gwamna (Gombe), Ahmed Aliyu Wadada (Nasarawa) and Baba Malam Wali (Yobe).
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a member of the vetting committee said the party had made substantial progress in meeting the electoral commission’s deadline.
“We have made giant strides in our efforts to upload the details of all our governorship candidates and their deputies. In fact, but for one state, we would have completed and closed the process for governorship candidates,” the source said.
The source attributed the delay to the unresolved choice of a deputy governorship candidate in a North-West state.
“The delay is caused by the deputy governorship candidate. We have been told that the issue will be resolved at a crucial stakeholders’ meeting scheduled for Monday here in Abuja,” the official added.
On the nomination of state assembly candidates, the source said the party had overcome initial technical challenges on INEC’s portal and had successfully uploaded the particulars of more than 60 per cent of its candidates.
“Despite the initial delay due to technical issues from the electoral umpire, our ICT personnel kept scanning and filling the details of our State Houses of Assembly candidates,” the source stated. “It was easy for us to upload immediately INEC opened the portal for sub-national lawmakers.
“Recall that our party completed the uploading of our Presidential and National Assembly candidates within record time. We are fully set to ensure that details of all 28 governorship candidates, their deputies, and the 990 state legislative nominees are uploaded well before the August 8 deadline.”
Under Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties must strictly comply with statutory timelines to submit candidate lists along with affidavits and personal declarations (Forms EC9 and EC9A through EC9E).
The digital portal—which opened at 9:00 a.m. on July 18—will automatically lock at 6:00 p.m. on August 8, leaving no room for manual submissions or post-deadline extensions.
