President formally keeps Muslim-Muslim ticket; ADC, SDP, YPP submit nominations, while PDP, LP, APGA yet to complete uploads as Saturday midnight cutoff looms
ABUJA – President Bola Tinubu formally retained Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate for the 2027 presidential election on Friday, ending months of speculation that he might replace his deputy with a northern Christian to address religious-balancing concerns, even as political parties made last-minute efforts to beat the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Saturday midnight deadline for the submission of presidential and National Assembly candidates.
The ruling All Progressives Congress presented the nomination forms of Tinubu and Shettima to its National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, in Abuja for onward transmission to INEC, effectively putting to rest rumours that had gathered momentum in recent months amid reports that the party was considering a northern Christian as vice-presidential candidate. The nomination documents were presented on behalf of the President by his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Ibrahim Masari, during a ceremony attended by members of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, the National Assembly, the Federal Executive Council, the APC National Working Committee, state chairmen of the party, and APC governorship candidates.
The development came as INEC confirmed that it had received the presidential and vice-presidential nominations of the African Democratic Congress, Nigeria Democratic Congress, Social Democratic Party, Action Alliance, African Action Congress, Peoples Redemption Party, and Young Progressives Party, while several other political parties continued uploading the names of their candidates ahead of the commission’s deadline. The electoral commission had fixed July 11, 2026, as the deadline for political parties to upload the nomination forms of their presidential and National Assembly candidates through its online nomination portal in accordance with Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026. The submission exercise, which commenced on June 27, covers Forms EC9 and EC9A to EC9E for presidential, vice-presidential, Senate and House of Representatives candidates. According to the timetable released by the commission, political parties are expected to begin uploading the names of governorship and State House of Assembly candidates from July 18, with the exercise ending on August 8. INEC is scheduled to publish the personal particulars of presidential and National Assembly candidates on August 1, while those of governorship and state assembly candidates will be displayed on August 29 to allow members of the public to raise objections where necessary. The commission also fixed August 22 as the deadline for the withdrawal and substitution of presidential and National Assembly candidates, while governorship and state assembly candidates have until September 19 for withdrawal or replacement in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
The July 11 deadline marks one of the most critical stages in the build-up to the 2027 general elections, as only candidates validly nominated by political parties through primaries monitored by INEC are eligible for submission. The commission had repeatedly warned political parties against submitting the names of candidates different from those who emerged from duly monitored primaries, insisting that any nomination outside the provisions of the Electoral Act and its regulations would be rejected. Against this backdrop, the APC used Friday’s presentation ceremony to publicly affirm its presidential ticket, signalling that it would head into the 2027 contest without altering the Muslim-Muslim ticket that…