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Friday, 30 October 2026Lagos · LondonUpdated 14:43 GMT

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2027 elections
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INEC drops some governorship candidates from list, cites Supreme Court ruling

A glass ballot box
Stock image: National Museum of American History / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed a number of governorship and state assembly candidates from its list for the 2027 elections, according to reports on Friday, 30 October 2026.

Why candidates were removed

INEC reportedly cited a Supreme Court judgment of 24 September 2026 that upheld provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 requiring parties to submit their membership registers before fielding candidates. The commission said it was bound by the Constitution to give effect to decisions of superior courts. It did not say how many candidates were affected in total.

Who is affected

Among those missing from the list were Isa Ali Pantami, the PDP governorship candidate in Gombe State, and Abdulsalam Gwarzo, the NDC candidate in Kano State. Both were reportedly later cleared to proceed, subject to the outcome of cases in court. However, sources said INEC did not extend the same clearance to Ladi Adebutu, the PDP governorship candidate in Ogun State. INEC is expected to issue a formal statement.

Background

INEC published its list of cleared governorship and state assembly candidates on 10 October, and parties that believed their candidates had been wrongly excluded had until 24 October to petition the commission. The 2027 primaries produced many disputes, and courts have already ordered changes to several candidacies, including the Imo West senatorial ticket.

What happens next

Affected parties are expected to go to court or press INEC for a review, and the final list could change again before the January elections.

More gist

2027 elections
Omoyele Sowore
Photo: Mohamed Nanabhay from Qatar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Sowore says armed thugs attacked and abducted him in Ado-Ekiti restaurant

AAC presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has alleged that armed thugs attacked him inside a restaurant in Ado-Ekiti and kidnapped him. The claim, posted on his social media accounts on Friday, had not been confirmed by the police at the time of reporting.

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Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) for 2027, has raised the alarm that he was attacked and abducted by armed thugs in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State.

What he said

In a Facebook post on Friday, 30 October 2026, Sowore wrote that thugs had attacked him and his team inside a restaurant in Ado-Ekiti. A further post said he had been kidnapped by armed men and that his location was unknown. His campaign repeated the alarm on his official X account. It was not immediately clear how the attackers got into the restaurant, how many people were involved, or whether anyone with him was hurt.

Official response

At the time of reporting, neither the police nor the Ekiti State government had issued a statement confirming the incident, and several news outlets said they could not independently verify the claims. Further updates on his whereabouts are expected.

Background

Sowore, the founder of the online news platform SaharaReporters, has run for president before and is seeking the office again in 2027. He has been one of the loudest critics of the government in recent weeks, condemning the remand of actress and AAC governorship candidate Doris Ogala and claiming that President Bola Tinubu's trip to Saudi Arabia was for medical care, a claim the Presidency rejected. He has also accused the police of using the Cybercrimes Act to protect powerful people. The alleged attack comes amid rising tension and reports of violence at political events as the January 2027 elections draw closer.

How people reacted

Supporters called on the police and the Department of State Services to find him quickly, while others urged caution until the facts are confirmed.

2027 electionsReported
A glass ballot box
Stock image: National Museum of American History / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

INEC official says some registration officers put AI-generated photos into voter register

INEC's ICT director, Lawrence Bayode, has reportedly admitted that some registration officers with system access entered AI-generated and poor-quality photos into the preliminary voter register. He said INEC knows how it happened but not why, and that the register is still being cleaned up before certification in December.

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reportedly admitted that artificial intelligence-generated photos found their way into Nigeria's preliminary voter register, and has blamed some of its own registration officers.

What was said

Speaking on Arise Television, in comments reported on Friday, 30 October 2026, INEC's Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, said some registration officers who had login access to the registration system introduced irregularities. He said some of the photos were AI-generated while others came from poor-quality registration, and that the problem was found in states across the country. He reportedly said the commission knew what the officers did and how they did it, but did not know why.

How it was found

Bayode said INEC detected the problem by checking the database with its Automated Biometric Identification System, which compares faces and fingerprints to find duplicates and suspicious entries. He did not say how many records were affected.

Background

INEC published the preliminary register online on 26 October, and social media users quickly shared screenshots of suspicious photos, including some from Edo State, as well as complaints about duplicate entries and missing names. INEC said on 27 October that it was examining and correcting the records, and that the online register was not final.

What happens next

The commission says the register is still going through verification and correction, and that the final register is due to be certified on 15 December 2026. Bayode said INEC is working under pressure to finish the clean-up within the legal deadline. Opposition parties and civil society groups have called for a thorough audit before the January 2027 elections.

2027 electionsReported
Cardinal John Onaiyekan in red robes
Photo: Gugganij / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Opposition coalition briefs Cardinal Onaiyekan on plan for a united front in 2027

Leaders of the G100 coalition of opposition parties have visited Cardinal John Onaiyekan to brief him on their plan to present a united alternative in 2027. The cardinal backed the effort, and the coalition says it will unveil its reform programme at a summit on 9 November.

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A coalition of opposition parties working towards a united front for the 2027 elections has received the backing of Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the retired Catholic Archbishop of Abuja.

What happened

Leaders of the G100 coalition, made up of the national chairmen and secretaries of member parties, visited the cardinal at his residence on Thursday, 29 October 2026, according to a statement signed by Salihu Lukman on Friday. They briefed him on their progress, including bringing in more parties and setting up ways of resolving disagreements among members.

What the cardinal said

Onaiyekan reportedly said he was pleased that Nigerians would have credible choices at the polls in 2027, and argued that the country's problems can only be solved by leaders who are competent, honest and compassionate. The coalition thanked him and asked him to keep praying for the initiative.

The plan

The coalition says it is finalising three documents: a National Covenant for Democratic Renewal setting out its principles, a Framework for Opposition Unity describing how parties will work together, and a National Reform Programme setting out the policies a coalition government would pursue. These are expected to be endorsed at a second summit on Monday, 9 November 2026. The group says it will also visit other prominent Nigerians and foreign missions in the coming weeks.

Background

Opposition figures have long argued that a divided opposition makes it easier for the ruling APC to win. Atiku Abubakar of the ADC and Peter Obi of the NDC are both running for president, and it is not yet clear what role, if any, either will play in the coalition.

2027 elections
Pat Utomi speaking at a podium
Photo: Edirin247 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Utomi says an Obi government would aim for ₦500 to the dollar

NDC chieftain Pat Utomi has reportedly said Peter Obi's economic plan would aim to strengthen the naira to ₦500 per dollar, from about ₦1,350 today. He claimed this would sharply cut food and fuel prices, but the party has not said how long it would take.

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Political economist Pat Utomi, a leading figure in the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has reportedly said that a Peter Obi government would work towards an exchange rate of ₦500 to the dollar.

What he said

In a post on X reported on Friday, 30 October 2026, Utomi said the target would be part of Obi's economic agenda. He argued that the naira could be strengthened from its current rate of about ₦1,350 to ₦500 per dollar through investment in security, electricity and roads, together with market reforms. He also projected large falls in the prices of everyday goods, claiming for example that a 50kg bag of imported rice could drop from about ₦55,000 to ₦27,500 and a loaf of sliced bread from ₦1,750 to ₦800.

The questions

The NDC has not said how long such an improvement would take, or what monetary and fiscal steps would be used to achieve and sustain it. Reaching ₦500 would require the naira to gain about 63 per cent against the dollar. The naira traded at about ₦1,347 on the official market and around ₦1,385 on the parallel market at the end of last week. No independent economists or government officials had responded to the target at the time of the report.

Background

The exchange rate has been one of the biggest economic issues since the naira was floated in 2023, when it weakened sharply. The Tinubu government says its reforms have stabilised the currency, while the opposition argues that the weaker naira has driven up living costs. Utomi, who once ran for president himself, is a long-time ally of Obi.

How people reacted

Obi's supporters welcomed the promise, while critics described it as unrealistic and questioned how it could be achieved without large reserves.