PDP faction says INEC is plotting to swap Goodluck Jonathan for another candidate

The Tanimu Turaki-led PDP faction has accused INEC of working to hijack the party and replace its presidential candidate, former President Goodluck Jonathan, ahead of the 2027 elections. This is in a press statement released on Saturday by the National Publicity Secretary of the Interim National Working Committee, Ini Ememobong. He claims INEC is refusing to recognise their leadership despite repeated notifications and court orders.

Ememobong said the party manually submitted its candidate list, including Jonathan, after INEC denied them access codes for electronic submission. He also criticised the Federal High Court judgment by Justice Salim Oluwasupo Ibrahim, saying it contradicts Supreme Court and Court of Appeal decisions. He said, "The judgment reads more like an appeal on the judgement of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal."

He also alleged that INEC's chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, is the most disparaged election umpire in history, even referencing a viral photo with a cap bearing the President's insignia. The party warned INEC not to publish names of candidates from unauthorised persons. If INEC goes ahead and publishes other names, it will confirm what many of us already suspect: that the electoral umpire has abandoned neutrality. Who is actually running this country's elections?