By Former Kaduna Central Senator Shehu Sani is telling candidates left off the Independent National Electoral Commission’s final list for the 2027 general elections to abandon any plans to challenge the exclusion in court.
Sani argues the affected politicians should accept the Supreme Court’s recent ruling and redirect their energy toward future contests rather than legal battles he considers already lost.
The ruling behind the exclusions
INEC released its final candidate list after Chairman Prof Joash Amupitan said the commission had fielded complaints from political parties and aggrieved aspirants over how a Supreme Court judgment would affect candidate eligibility. Amupitan disclosed at an Abuja press conference earlier in the week that the commission received a certified true copy of the judgment on Tuesday and was still reviewing it.
In its September 24, 2026 ruling, the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act 2026 and upheld INEC’s revised election timetable.
Following that decision, INEC said parties would be barred from the elections if they fielded candidates whose names weren’t included in registers submitted within the required timeframe.
Speaking on Trust TV’s Daily Politics, INEC National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education Malam Mohammed Haruna said affected parties also wouldn’t be permitted to substitute excluded candidates, adding that no party would be allowed to benefit from having broken the rules.
Who’s affected
Among the prominent names missing from the list is former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Prof Isah Ali Ibrahim Pantami, who is seeking the Gombe State governorship. Pantami had been an APC aspirant before defecting to the PDP after the ruling party settled on Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna as its consensus candidate in Gombe. Also excluded are PDP governorship candidate in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, and NDC governorship candidate in Kano State, Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo.
Sani’s advice
Reacting on social media, Sani described any court challenge as a battle already lost and urged the affected candidates to rethink their next move. “The Supreme Court ruling that enabled INEC to exclude some names of candidates is very clear. Affected candidates should not waste their money, time and energy fighting a lost battle,” he said.
He extended the appeal to the legal profession as well, specifically lawyers and Senior Advocates of Nigeria, asking them not to push the excluded candidates toward further litigation. “I also wish to appeal to those Barristers and SANs to ‘pity’ those candidates and allow them to rest, and not mislead them into spending more money ‘filing fresh suits’,” he said, adding, “Four years will come and go; let them strategise for the future.”
Sani himself is the APC candidate for the Kaduna Central Senatorial District in 2027, having won the party’s primary in May by defeating his closest challenger, former Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Yusuf Zailani.
