• APC beats deadline, uploads all candidates for 2027 elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the deadline for political parties to submit the list of their governorship and House of Assembly candidates for the 2027 general election.

The commission said the deadline, which was originally scheduled to close on Saturday, August 8, 2026, has now been extended to Tuesday, August 11, 2026.

This is as the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced that it has completed the electronic upload of its candidates for all elective positions ahead of the 2027 elections, beating the earlier INEC deadline.

However, in a statement over the weekend by its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, the commission said the extension followed appeals by political parties for additional time to complete the submission and upload of their candidates’ lists on the dedicated portal.

Therefore, “the submission window, which, according to the revised Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the General Election, was originally scheduled to close on Saturday, August 8, 2026, has been extended to Tuesday, August 11, 2026,” the statement read.

The commission further announced that the window for voters in Osun State who applied to replace lost, damaged, or defaced Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) with downloadable copies would close by midnight on Sunday, August 9 (yesterday).

According to INEC, the deadline was necessary to enable it to compile data on downloaded PVCs for the final statistics on total PVCs collected ahead of the August 15 Osun State governorship election.

The commission recalled that PVC collection in Osun commenced at the registration area level on July 22, lasting till 28. Following complaints about large crowds and the difficulties encountered by voters at collection centres, however, the exercise was extended at the registration area level to July 31.

The collection subsequently moved to the local council area level, where it ran from August 1 to 7.

INEC also disclosed that replacement downloadable PVCs had been made available to voters in Odo-Otin and Ife Central council areas following the invasion of the two collection centres by hoodlums who carted away some PVCs, with the commission reiterating that “the stolen cards cannot be used to vote.”

Meanwhile, announcing the completion of its electronic upload of candidates, the APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, described the early completion of the exercise as evidence of the party’s organisational strength, internal coordination and preparedness for the elections.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki, Yilwatda said the APC had concluded its submissions before the original deadline, covering candidates for positions from the State Houses of Assembly to the presidential election.

He said the achievement demonstrated that the party had moved beyond political slogans to building the structures and systems required to run a nationwide political organisation.

The APC chairman added that the exercise was a major test of the party’s ability to coordinate its structures, candidates and officials across the country.