President Bola Tinubu, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, have been listed as presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress, African Democratic Congress and Nigeria Democratic Congress respectively, in the final list released by the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2027 general election.
They are among the 18 presidential candidates on the list for the January 16, 2027 presidential election, released by the commission on Saturday.
The list, signed by the Secretary of the Commission, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, contains the names of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, their ages, gender and educational qualifications.
The final list retains the major contenders, including Tinubu, Atiku, Obi, African Action Congress candidate, Omoyele Sowore, Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Sandy Onor, and Labour Party candidate, Sunday Okereke.
Tinubu is paired with Vice-President Kashim Shettima, Atiku with former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, while Obi is running with former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Other candidates on the final list are Rufai Adekunle Omo-Aje of the Action Alliance; Abbas-Bin Aliyu of the Action Democratic Party; Yusuf Kabiru of the Action Peoples Party; Oluseyi Makinde of the Allied Peoples Movement; Sunday Adenuga of the Boot Party; Moses Adebisi of the Democratic Liberty Alliance; Ada Okwori of the National Democratic Party; and Nkem Okereke of the National Rescue Movement.
Others are Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party; Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party; Peter Agada of the Young Progressives Party; and Daniel Nwanyanwu of the Zenith Labour Party.
The publication comes about six weeks after the commission released the personal particulars and credentials of 19 presidential candidates and their running mates.
The earlier publication, made on August 2, was based on the candidates’ Form EC9 and contained information including educational qualifications, dates of birth, occupations and other personal details submitted to the commission.
The August list had included Tinubu, Atiku, Obi, Onor, Sowore, Duke, Ada Okwori, Chukwu Anita Zugwai of the Young Progressives Party, Rufai Omo-Aje, Adenuga, Samuel Memeh of the Democratic Liberty Alliance, Nwanyanwu, Okereke, Okereke Iken Esther of the National Rescue Movement, Abbas-Bin Aliyu, Dikwa Suleiman Mohammed of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Adebayo, Seyi Makinde and Yusuf Kabiru.
Notably, however, the final list shows two significant changes.
The candidate for the YPP has changed, with Chukwu Zugwai, who appeared on the August provisional list, now replaced by Peter Agada.
Agada is listed as 54 years old and is running with Patience Ndidi Key.
The New Nigeria Peoples Party has also been removed from the presidential contest.
Dikwa Mohammed, who was previously listed as the party’s presidential candidate in August, did not appear in the final document.
The NNPP is therefore not among the 18 parties with presidential candidates in the published final list.
Sunday PUNCH reports that the reduction from 19 to 18 candidates changes the 19-person field which was previously widely regarded as the working list ahead of the final publication.
Meanwhile, the final list has also put to rest debates about the entry of some notable names in the presidential race.
Also absent from the list is businessman, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, who had laid claim to the presidential ticket of the Accord Party.
The party had earlier said it would not field a presidential candidate after concluding that none of its aspirants met the nomination deadline.
Also worthy of note is that the final document shows two female presidential candidates: Okwori of the NDP and Okereke of the NRM, while the other presidential candidates are men.
The list also shows four female vice-presidential candidates, including Peace Egobia Ofordile of the APP, Bintu Konto of the Labour Party, Nafisat Usaku Abubakar of the DLA and Patience Ndidi Key of the YPP.
The six women represent only 16.7 per cent of the 36-person presidential/vice-presidential field, far less than the push for a 35 per cent affirmative action for women’s representation in politics.
Meanwhile, the ages of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates range from 35 to 80, reflecting a contest that combines relatively younger candidates with political veterans such as Atiku, 79, and Donald Duke, 64.
INEC had fixed January 16, 2027, as the date for the presidential and National Assembly elections.
The release of the final list therefore signals a major milestone in the preparations for the 2027 poll, as the commission moves from the publication of provisional candidate particulars to the definitive field of presidential candidates.
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