The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the final lists of candidates for the 2027 National Assembly elections, setting the stage for contests for seats in the Senate and House of Representatives.
An analysis of the candidate lists published by the electoral commission shows that 4,408 candidates are contesting seats in the two chambers of the National Assembly.
The figure comprises 1,195 candidates for the Senate and 3,213 candidates for the House of Representatives.
Of the 4,408 candidates, 3,965 are men, while 443 are women, highlighting the continued gender imbalance in Nigeria’s electoral contests.
The Senate list contains 1,080 male candidates and 115 female candidates, while the House of Representatives list comprises 2,885 male candidates and 328 female candidates.
The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) fielded the highest number of female candidates across the two chambers, with 11 women contesting Senate seats and 42 seeking election to the House of Representatives.
The release of the final lists comes as preparations intensify for the 2027 general elections. According to INEC’s official timetable, the presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while governorship and State House of Assembly elections are slated for February 6, 2027.
INEC publishes presidential candidate list
INEC also released on Saturday the final list of presidential and vice-presidential candidates for the 2027 general elections.
The list contains 18 presidential candidates and their running mates across various political parties and was signed by the INEC Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony.
Among those on the list are President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Oyo State Governor Oluseyi Makinde of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Sandy Ojang Onor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).
Other presidential candidates include Rufai Adekunle Omo-Aje of the Action Alliance (AA), Abbas-Bin Aliyu of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Yusuf Kabiru of the Action Peoples Party (APP), Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress (AAC), Sunday Adenuga of the Boot Party (BP), Adebisi Olusoji of the Democratic Labour Alliance (DLA), Sunday Okereke of the Labour Party (LP), Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Peter Agada of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), and Nwanyanwu Daberechukwu of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The list also includes two female presidential candidates: Ada Elizabeth Frederick Okwori of the National Democratic Party (NDP) and Nkem Esther Okereke of the National Rescue Movement (NRM).
