The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has appealed for calm after its candidate for the 2027 Cross River governorship election was missing from the final list published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The party said it believes the omission was the result of an administrative or bureaucratic error and expressed confidence that the matter would be corrected.
The development follows INEC’s release of its final list of governorship candidates for the Feb. 6, 2027 election in Cross River State. The published list contains candidates from eight political parties, while the NDC and African Democratic Congress (ADC) were absent.
The parties currently listed for the governorship contest are the All Progressives Congress (APC), All Peoples Party (APP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), National Rescue Movement (NRM), Labour Party (LP), Action Alliance (AA), Action Democratic Party (ADP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
NDC says omission will be resolved
NDC Cross River Chairman, Goddie Akpama, said the party had already contacted relevant authorities, including its national leadership, over the omission.
He said the party had received assurances that the matter was being addressed and expected its candidate to be restored to the list.
Akpama urged NDC members and supporters not to panic, asking them to continue their campaign activities while the party engages with the electoral authorities.
The chairman’s position is consistent with the NDC’s earlier insistence that it had nominated governorship candidates in all 28 states where governorship elections are scheduled for 2027. In September, the party specifically named John Odey as its Cross River candidate.
What INEC’s list currently shows
The latest development represents a change from the earlier candidate information released by INEC.
In August, the provisional details displayed in Cross River included candidates from 12 political parties, among them the NDC and ADC.
The final list released in October, however, contains only eight governorship candidates, leaving the NDC and ADC outside the contest as currently published.
Reports indicate that INEC has cleared 241 candidates for 36 elective positions in Cross River State for the 2027 elections, covering the governorship, Senate, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly races.
The omission therefore affects the NDC’s participation in the governorship race specifically, rather than necessarily removing all of its candidates for other elective positions.
Background to the NDC’s Cross River campaign
The issue comes after months of the NDC presenting itself as a growing national political force ahead of the 2027 elections.
In May, Akpama said the party was working to field credible candidates across Cross River and strengthen its political structure in the state.
By September, the NDC’s national leadership was publicly rejecting reports that it lacked governorship candidates in several states. The party said it had candidates in all 28 states scheduled to hold governorship elections and identified John Odey as its candidate in Cross River.
The current omission from INEC’s final list has therefore created a significant electoral uncertainty for the party in Cross River.
For now, however, the NDC is treating the development as an administrative problem rather than conceding that it has been excluded permanently.
Editorial clarification: The NDC’s claim that the omission resulted from a “bureaucratic error” is the party’s position. The available reports do not establish that INEC has officially confirmed the reason for the omission. It is therefore safer to describe it as an alleged or claimed bureaucratic error until the commission formally clarifies the matter.
