SDP Gives INEC 24 Hours to Restore IPAC Chairman, Danlami Musa as Nasarawa Guber Candidate

SDP Gives INEC 24 Hours to Restore IPAC Chairman, Danlami Musa as Nasarawa Guber Candidate

…Demands Immediate Withdrawal of Fmr IGP Adamu’s Name

 

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the alleged unlawful replacement of the name of Danlami Mohammed Musa, its 2027 governorship candidate in Nasarawa State, with that of Mohammed Abubakar Adamu in the commission’s final list of candidates for the 2027 general elections.

 

In the petition dated October 21, 2026, submitted to the INEC chairman at the commission’s headquarters in Maitama, Abuja, and acknowledged as received the same day, the party demanded the immediate restoration of Musa’s name as its validly nominated candidate for the Nasarawa State governorship election and the removal of Adamu’s name from the list.

 

The SDP warned that any action contrary to its demand would amount to a mockery of the judgment and authority of the Supreme Court, the country’s highest court. It threatened to initiate legal action if INEC failed to comply within 24 hours of receiving the petition.

 

The party maintained that Danlami Mohammed Musa, who doubles as the State Chairman of the SDP as well as the IPAC State Chairman in Nasarawa State, emerged as its duly nominated governorship candidate after winning its primary election in Nasarawa State on May 26, 2026, through a consensus arrangement.

 

The petition, signed by the SDP National Chairman, Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam, and its Acting National Secretary, Uchechukwu Chukwuma, alleged that replacing Musa’s name with Adamu’s in the final list contravened Section 29 of the Electoral Act, 2026, describing the commission’s action as “illegal and unlawful.”

 

Titled “Complaint Against the Unlawful Replacement of the Name of Danlami Mohammed Musa as Validly and Duly Nominated Governorship Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Nasarawa State, with the Name of Mohammed Abubakar Adamu in the Final List of Candidates for the 2027 General Elections,” the petition challenged INEC’s decision to publish Adamu as the SDP’s governorship candidate in the state.

 

The party alleged that Adamu was a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and participated in the APC governorship primary election conducted in Nasarawa State on May 21, 2026.
According to Gabam and Chukwuma, Adamu resigned from the APC on May 24, 2026, before joining the SDP.

 

The party questioned why INEC accepted a letter dated May 29, 2026, from Gabam seeking to update the party’s membership register to include Adamu following his defection, but subsequently disregarded another letter dated June 5, 2026, through which Gabam forwarded the name of Musa as the SDP’s duly nominated governorship candidate in Nasarawa State.

 

“The Commission cannot recognise Alh. Shehu Musa Gabam as the National Chairman of the SDP and give effect to his letter introducing Mohammed Abubakar Adamu as a member of the SDP in one breath and, in another breath, deny his position as the National Chairman of the same SDP by discountenancing his letter of June 5, 2026, forwarding the names of the SDP’s nominated candidates, including Danlami Mohammed Musa, to the Commission,” the party stated.

 

The SDP also questioned the application and enforcement of the Supreme Court’s judgment in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), arguing that its implementation should not result in the removal of Musa’s name from the list of eligible governorship candidates for the 2027 general elections and the substitution of Adamu’s name.

 

According to the party, Musa was already an SDP member before the May 10, 2026, deadline for the submission of party membership registers to INEC, and his name was included in the register submitted to the commission.

 

The party expressed concern that Adamu, whose name INEC published as the SDP’s governorship candidate in Nasarawa State, was not an SDP member as of May 10, 2026, and was not listed in the party’s membership register submitted to the commission on that date.

 

It added that Gabam introduced Adamu to INEC on May 29, 2026, 19 days after the deadline for political parties to submit their digital membership registers.

 

SDP Cites Eight Grounds for Challenging Adamu’s Candidacy
Setting out eight grounds for its objection, the SDP argued that Adamu was ineligible to emerge as its governorship candidate in Nasarawa State.

 

The party’s arguments were as follows:

Adamu joined the SDP on May 29, 2026, after the May 10, 2026, deadline for political parties to submit their membership registers to INEC.

 

His name was not included in the SDP membership register submitted to INEC on May 10, 2026.

 

His name was forwarded to INEC as part of an updated membership register on May 29, 2026. The party argued that the Electoral Act, 2026, does not recognise an updated register for this purpose.

 

According to the party, anyone who was not a member of a political party by May 10, 2026, and whose name was not included in the membership register submitted to INEC by that date, was ineligible to emerge as the party’s candidate.

 

The SDP conducted its governorship primary election in Nasarawa State on May 26, 2026, and nominated Musa as its candidate.
Musa’s name was forwarded to INEC on June 5, 2026, and he had not withdrawn from the race, according to the party.

 

The party alleged that the individual who purportedly withdrew his candidacy in favour of Adamu was not the person whose name the SDP national chairman had submitted to INEC as the party’s duly nominated governorship candidate for Nasarawa State.

 

The SDP further argued that a purported fresh primary election held on September 5, 2026, which allegedly produced Adamu as the party’s governorship candidate, fell outside the 14-day period allowed following the withdrawal of the purported former candidate.

 

According to the party, the withdrawal occurred on June 9, 2026, while the fresh primary election was conducted on September 5, 2026.

 

In a separate petition to the INEC chairman, Musa also called on the commission to restore his name as the SDP’s duly nominated governorship candidate in Nasarawa State.
He described the publication of Adamu’s name as the party’s candidate as a grave violation of his rights and a mockery of the law and the authority of the Supreme Court.