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INEC extended the deadline for political parties to submit candidate lists for Nigeria’s 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections by three days, moving the cutoff from Saturday to midnight Tuesday following an appeal from the Inter-Party Advisory Council.
The original deadline of 6:00 p.m. Saturday, July 11, under the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Revised Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2027 General Election, has now been pushed to midnight on Tuesday, July 14, National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna said in a statement issued in the early hours of Sunday.
Haruna, who chairs INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, said the extension followed an appeal from the Inter-Party Advisory Council on behalf of political parties that were unable to upload the names and personal particulars of their candidates within the original window.
“The extension underscores the Commission’s commitment to ensuring inclusivity in its practices, while acting within the ambit of the law,” Haruna said, urging parties to use the additional time to complete their submissions before the new deadline expires.
Political parties are required to submit candidate information electronically through the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal, uploading names and personal details for every candidate they are sponsoring in the presidential race and in National Assembly contests across the country’s 469 Senate and House of Representatives seats.
The Inter-Party Advisory Council, which represents registered political parties in their dealings with INEC, brought the appeal on behalf of parties citing difficulty meeting the original timeline. Haruna’s statement did not specify what obstacles parties encountered in uploading their candidate lists, nor how many of Nigeria’s registered political parties were affected by the delay.
INEC’s statement framed the extension as a limited, three-day window rather than an open-ended accommodation, with the commission explicitly enjoining parties to “take advantage of this window of opportunity” rather than assume further extensions would follow.
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The submission of candidate lists is an early procedural step in Nigeria’s general election cycle, preceding later stages such as the resolution of candidacy disputes, the printing of ballot materials, and campaign period regulations. Nigeria’s electoral calendar has in past cycles built in similar submission deadlines for parties to formally register their standard-bearers and legislative candidates with the commission, a step that determines who appears on the ballot and triggers subsequent verification processes, including INEC’s review of candidate qualifications and the handling of any nomination disputes that arise before the election.
The three-day extension is a narrower adjustment than some prior INEC timetable changes, which have occasionally involved multi-week shifts to accommodate court rulings, security concerns, or logistical constraints. Sunday’s statement gave no indication that this extension reflects any broader revision to the 2027 election timetable beyond the single deadline affected, and Haruna’s statement did not address whether other activities scheduled to follow the candidate submission deadline, such as INEC’s subsequent review period, would shift accordingly to accommodate the new date.
No political party was named in the statement as having specifically requested the extension, and INEC did not disclose whether any parties had already completed their submissions ahead of the original Saturday deadline. The commission’s statement also did not address whether parties that had already fully uploaded their candidate lists would face any disadvantage relative to those granted the additional time.
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The extension comes as Nigeria’s political parties continue organizing their candidate slates for the 2027 general election, a cycle that will determine occupants of the presidency and the full membership of the National Assembly. INEC’s Candidates Nomination Portal has served as the commission’s designated digital platform for candidate submissions in recent election cycles, part of a broader push by the commission toward electronic processes for nomination and result management.
Tuesday’s midnight deadline now stands as the operative cutoff for party candidate submissions, with INEC indicating no further requests for extension will be entertained beyond the revised date it has now approved.
