INEC has uploaded Peter Obi’s name on its 2027 election portal after the NDC filed a stay of execution against a Lokoja court deregistration ruling.
INEC has uploaded Peter Obi’s name on its 2027 election portal after the NDC filed a stay of execution against a Lokoja court deregistration ruling.
ABUJA Nigeria’s electoral commission on Tuesday restored portal access to the Nigeria Democratic Congress, clearing the path for the party to complete the upload of Peter Obi’s name as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
The NDC National Leader and former Bayelsa governor Seriake Dickson posted to his verified X account Tuesday, confirming the development came after the party filed a notice of appeal and an application for stay of execution against a Federal High Court judgment delivered in Lokoja.
That Lokoja ruling, handed down last Friday, had set aside an earlier December 2025 judgment directing INEC to register the NDC. But the reversal arrived only after the Peace Movement Party stepped into court, claiming ownership of the logo the NDC used to secure its original registration.
Justice Isah Dashen sided with the PMP. He ruled that all relevant parties must be heard before any substantive decision could be made, declared the earlier registration process null and void, and restored the legal status quo that preceded the December ruling.
Dickson told his followers: “What is left is the administrative process of submitting the names to INEC, and we have been granted access to the portal to upload our qualified candidates.”
He confirmed both his name and Obi’s had already been entered into the commission’s system.
Peter Obi moved quickly. On Tuesday, the NDC’s presidential candidate confirmed completion of his INEC nomination form in a statement posted to his verified X account, though he left the legal dispute largely unaddressed, questioning instead whether Nigeria’s current political class had the right mindset to tackle the country’s pressing crises.
The appeal and its accompanying applications were served on the electoral commission alongside a covering letter urging INEC to act strictly within the law. And as gathered by Westtrybe, the NDC filed the appeal at the Court of Appeal in Lokoja, Kogi State, with no hearing date yet fixed.
Senator Victor Umeh, who represents the Anambra Central Senatorial District, appeared on Arise Television Monday and pointed to timing he described as deliberate. The PMP lawsuit, he told the program, was filed the very day after Peter Obi, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and others formally joined the NDC on May 3.
“PMP is being used to block the NDC’s participation in the 2027 election,” Umeh said flatly. Yet NDC National Chairman Senator Cleopas Zuwoghe had already declared on Friday that the Federal High Court was not the final court in the land, assuring supporters that Obi and all NDC candidates would remain on the ballot.
Dickson commended INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan for what he called professionalism and adherence to court directives throughout the matter. He urged the commission to hold its neutrality as the legal challenge moved to the appellate level.
Documents seen by Westtrybe show INEC’s revised timetable opened portal access for nomination forms at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 27, 2026. The window for presidential and National Assembly candidates runs until 6:00 p.m. on July 11, 2026.
Amupitan had set June 26, 2026, for the release of portal access codes at a quarterly consultative meeting with party leaders, a step he said followed the conclusion of party primaries on May 30.
Access codes were issued to authorized national officers of each political party, who bear responsibility for uploading nominees’ biodata into the system.
Dickson disclosed that the vice-presidential candidate’s name would follow once the necessary documentation was completed. Nominations for other NDC candidates across the country were also underway, with the party facing a July 17 deadline for governorship and State House of Assembly submissions.
“Having filed and served our appeal and the accompanying applications, the ball is now in the court of the judiciary, and we expect the judiciary to do what is right under the law,” Dickson stated.
The NDC presses forward on all remaining deadlines regardless of the pending ruling.
