The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has rejected the claim by the Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that it had manually submitted its candidates’ list for the 2027 general elections, including the name of former President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate as well as its governorship and National Assembly candidates.

The commission said there are stipulated procedures for political parties to submit the names of their candidates through the INEC portal, casting doubt on the faction’s claim that it was denied access codes and consequently resorted to manual submission.

The Commission’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mrs Victoria Ita-Messi said this yesterday in an interview with LEADERSHIP Weekend in Abuja, in response to the claim by the Turaki-led faction.

Ita-Messi, however, said she was unable to confirm whether the faction had submitted its list of candidates to INEC.

“I am not in a position to confirm that to you, but can only tell you that there are procedures for submitting the names of political parties’ candidates to the INEC portal,” she said.

Ita-Messi further questioned how the faction could have submitted its list of candidates if, as it alleged, it had been denied access codes.

“If the faction claimed that they were denied access to the code, how did they submit the list of their candidates to the commission?” she queried.

The commission’s position followed a declaration by the faction at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday that it had submitted its candidate list to INEC.

The faction said the list included the name of former President Jonathan as its presidential candidate as well as its governorship and National Assembly flag-bearers for the 2027 general elections.

The…