By Annette Ikponmwonba | November 2nd, 2026
Key Points
· The Nigeria Democratic Congress governorship candidate in Kano State, Aminu Gwarzo, says the omission of his name and his running mate’s from INEC’s list of candidates came as a surprise
· He insists the party met all INEC requirements for participation in the election
· He spoke in an interview on Arise News
· He says the party sought clarification from INEC but got no satisfactory response
· A court case was filed on October 17, and on October 27 the Kano State High Court ordered INEC not to publish their names
· Gwarzo alleges “an understanding behind the scenes” between INEC and people with other interests
Main Story
The governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress in Kano State, Aminu Gwarzo, has said the omission of his name and that of his running mate from the list of candidates for the forthcoming governorship election came as a surprise to him. He asserted that the party complied with all the requirements stipulated by the Independent National Electoral Commission for participation in the election, Gwarzo accused the commission of questionable dealings, alleging that it has failed to give any convincing explanation for excluding their names. He shared his reservations in an interview on Arise News.
According to him, he emerged as the party’s consensus governorship candidate in Kano and encountered no objections or complications before the list was published. The party then approached INEC for clarification but received no satisfactory response. He said they later learnt that some individuals had gone to the Kano State High Court to challenge his candidacy and seek an interim order stopping the publication of his name.
The Issues
The central issue is timing. Gwarzo says a court case was filed on October 17 and the court issued its order on October 27, directing INEC not to publish their names. Yet, he argues, INEC had already left their names off the October 10 list, before the case was filed and before any order existed. That sequence, he says, raises serious questions about how the commission handled the matter.
The dispute also touches on candidates’ constitutional right to participate in elections. If a validly nominated candidate is left off a list without a clear explanation, it feeds distrust in the electoral process, particularly at a time when INEC is trying to reassure the public about transparency ahead of 2027, At this stage the claims are Gwarzo’s own account. INEC’s reasons for the omission have not been given in the report, and the court case brought by his challengers has not been resolved.
What’s Being Said
Gwarzo described the situation as disturbing and called on the commission to be transparent with parties and candidates. “There appears to be an understanding behind the scenes between INEC and people with other interests,” he said, He said INEC’s failure to clarify the situation from the beginning had deepened the party’s suspicion about the circumstances surrounding the omission, No response from INEC or from the individuals who filed the court case was included in the report.
What’s Next
Attention will turn to whether INEC explains why the names were excluded from the October 10 list, and how the Kano State High Court case proceeds. The NDC may also pursue further legal or administrative steps to have Gwarzo and his running mate restored, The outcome will matter for the NDC’s participation in the Kano governorship race, and it is likely to be watched closely by observers concerned about the integrity of candidate listing ahead of the elections.
Bottom Line
Gwarzo is accusing INEC of secret dealings over the exclusion of his name, pointing to the fact that the omission came before the court order, and the commission now faces pressure to explain how and why it happened.
