The Independent National Electoral Commission has left out the name of the National Democratic Congress governorship candidate in Kano State, Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, from its updated final list of candidates for the 2027 general elections, citing a court order.
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The updated list published by INEC on October 31 shows the NDC governorship and deputy governorship positions without the names of candidates, while “COURT ORDER” appears in the remarks column.
The development follows weeks of controversy over Gwarzo’s exclusion from the governorship candidates’ list and comes despite an earlier indication that his complaint to the Commission had succeeded, subject to the outcome of pending litigation.
Gwarzo had petitioned INEC after his name was omitted from the initial list of governorship candidates published on October 10, 2026.
Following consideration of complaints submitted by affected political parties and candidates, INEC National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna was quoted as saying that Gwarzo’s petition was successful but that publication of his name depended on the outcome of an ex-parte order issued by a Federal High Court in Kano.
Haruna said Gwarzo’s petition had been considered successful, “but publishing his name is subject to the final outcome of an ex-parte order by a Kano federal high court.”
However, the Commission’s latest list retains the exclusion, with the NDC column for both the governorship and deputy governorship candidates left blank and the notation “COURT ORDER” entered against the party.
The latest development has again raised questions over the status of the NDC’s governorship ticket in Kano State ahead of the 2027 election.
The NDC had, on October 27, approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to challenge the exclusion of Gwarzo from INEC’s list of candidates.
The party asked the court to compel the electoral commission to include his name, maintaining that he had fulfilled the requirements necessary to contest the governorship election.
The suit followed earlier complaints by the party to INEC over the omission.
The Kano State chapter of the NDC had previously threatened legal action after it said it received no response from the Commission following the October 24 deadline for parties and candidates affected by omissions to submit complaints.
Its state Chairman, Husseini Mairiga, had said the party would go to court if INEC failed to address the matter.
On October 29, reports emerged that INEC had upheld petitions involving Gwarzo and former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, among several candidates whose names were omitted from earlier lists.
The reported clearance of Gwarzo was, however, made subject to the outcome of pending court proceedings.
That qualification has now become central to the NDC candidate’s status, as INEC’s updated final list does not contain his name and instead expressly refers to a court order.
The controversy began after the Commission published the initial governorship candidates’ list without Gwarzo, prompting protests and demands for clarification from the NDC.
The party maintained that Gwarzo and his running mate had complied with the relevant requirements for nomination and participation in the election.
At one stage, party officials suggested that the omission might have resulted from a computer-related error and expressed confidence that the Commission would correct the list after reviewing the complaint.
INEC, however, had linked some of the candidate-list disputes to legal requirements arising from the submission of political parties’ membership registers and the effect of a September 24 Supreme Court judgment concerning provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.
The NDC subsequently turned to the courts in an effort to secure Gwarzo’s inclusion.
With the October 31 updated final list now leaving the NDC governorship and deputy governorship spaces blank and marking them “COURT ORDER,” the status of the party’s Kano governorship ticket remains tied to the outcome of the relevant legal proceedings.
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