The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the final list of 15 governorship candidates cleared to contest the 2027 election in Bauchi State, leaving out four political parties from the published list.
The affected parties are the Social Democratic Party (SDP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Action Alliance (AA) and Accord Party.
The commission published the list of candidates and their running mates on its official website on Saturday, ahead of the election to succeed Governor Bala Mohammed.
The 15 candidates listed by INEC are from the African Action Congress (AAC), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Democratic Party (ADP), All Progressives Congress (APC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Action Peoples Party (APP), Labour Party (LP), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), National Democratic Party (NDP), National Rescue Movement (NRM), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Young Progressive Party (YPP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The ADC candidate is Halliru Dauda Jika, with Samaila Mohammed Kabir as his running mate, while the APC will field Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar and Farouk Mustapha.
The PDP candidate is Adamu Usman Ahmed, with Alin Bababa Abdulkadir as his running mate. The NDC will be represented by Kashim Ibrahim Muhammad, alongside Tata Alhaji.
Other candidates on the list include Abdullahi Adamu of the AAC; Yunusa Shehu Jinda of the ADP; Naziru Usman of APGA; Yakubu Adamu of the APM; Kabiru Abdulhamid Shuwa of the APP; Idris Aliyu Muhammad of the Labour Party; Haruna Muhammad Ningi of the NDP; and Muhammad Muhammad Zaharaddin of the NRM.
The remaining candidates are Shehu Umar Buba of the PRP, Aliyu Umar A.G. of the YPP and Lami BabaGeidam of the ZLP.
The four excluded parties had previously submitted the names of their candidates and running mates to the commission. The NNPP nominated Ahmed Shuaibu, with Ismail Zailani as his running mate, while the SDP submitted Abdullahi Yakubu and Yahaya Abubakar Maikobi.
The Action Alliance had nominated Musa Zubairu, with Shehu Buba as his running mate, while the Accord Party submitted Mohd Aminu Bauchin Bauchi and Daniel Meshack.
INEC did not state the reasons for excluding the four parties from the published list, leaving the status of their nominations unclear.
The omissions have raised concerns among the affected parties as political preparations intensify ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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