The PDP Jonathan candidacy has deepened the leadership crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party as the Kabiru Turaki-led faction says it has submitted former President Goodluck Jonathan’s nomination to the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2027 election.
The faction said it manually submitted Jonathan’s presidential nomination alongside the names of its other candidates after INEC refused to provide access codes for electronic submission. The development has further widened the dispute between the Turaki-led interim leadership and the electoral commission, which does not recognise the committee.
The PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, disclosed the development while addressing journalists on Friday. He said the party proceeded with a manual submission after INEC declined to provide the required electronic access codes.
According to Ememobong, the absence of the codes did not prevent the party from fulfilling its legal obligations under the Electoral Act 2026. He said the submission contained Jonathan’s presidential nomination as well as the names of candidates for governorship, National Assembly and state assembly elections.
Ememobong also claimed that INEC acknowledged receipt of the documents. He warned the electoral body against publishing a different list of candidates. The party said it would pursue constitutional, legal and democratic options if INEC publishes names other than those submitted by its faction.
The Turaki faction traced its claim to legitimacy to a Supreme Court judgment concerning the PDP’s leadership. Ememobong said the ruling left the party without a legally recognised national leadership, after which the Board of Trustees and a requisitioned National Executive Committee meeting constituted the Interim National Working Committee. However, he said INEC declined to recognise the interim leadership despite being formally notified.
The development subsequently pushed the faction towards judicial intervention, further complicating the party’s internal crisis. The dispute has now taken on added significance as the 2027 election timetable advances and political parties prepare to finalise their candidates.
The PDP faction also criticised a Federal High Court judgment relating to the leadership dispute. Ememobong argued that the decision was inconsistent with previous judgments of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal which, according to him, formed the basis of the faction’s legal position.
He said the party had appealed the judgment and would also challenge alleged discrepancies between the judgment delivered in open court and its Certified True Copy. The faction maintained that the matter remained subject to further judicial determination.
The party also accused INEC of abandoning the neutrality expected of the nation’s electoral umpire. Ememobong alleged that the commission withheld relevant facts during court proceedings and disregarded congresses it had monitored.
He said such actions were contributing to declining public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process. The PDP spokesperson further alleged that the party had become an early target of what he described as a broader attempt to weaken opposition parties and promote one-party dominance. According to him, the alleged campaign had since extended beyond the PDP to other opposition parties.
The faction called on Nigerians to protect the country’s multiparty democratic system ahead of the 2027 general elections. Ememobong warned that weakening opposition parties could undermine democratic consolidation and create conditions for electoral authoritarianism.
Despite the unresolved recognition dispute with INEC and the ongoing court battle, the Turaki-led faction expressed confidence that it would prevail. The latest development means the PDP Jonathan candidacy is now at the centre of an increasingly complicated legal and political battle over which faction has the authority to nominate candidates for the 2027 elections.
