…Accord candidate challenges exclusion from INEC’s final list
Presidential candidate of the Accord Party, Dr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has rejected his exclusion from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s final list of candidates for the 2027 presidential election, insisting that no administrative action can extinguish his candidacy.
Hashim made the declaration in a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday, September 12, 2026, following the release of INEC’s final list of presidential candidates and their running mates for the January 2027 election. His name was not included among the candidates published by the commission.
“I am the candidate of the Accord Party. No one can exclude me from the 2027 presidential election. The court will do justice,” Hashim said.
The Accord candidate argued that the publication of an electoral list by INEC cannot finally determine a dispute over who is entitled to represent a political party in a presidential election.
According to him, Nigeria’s constitutional framework provides the courts with the authority to resolve such disputes and prevent administrative decisions from unlawfully shutting candidates out of the electoral process.
“Our democracy does not give INEC any right of finality over who stands as the candidate of a political party,” he said.
Hashim pointed to previous electoral disputes, including developments surrounding the recent Osun governorship election, where he said courts intervened in cases involving candidates who had initially been excluded from INEC processes.
He maintained that such precedents demonstrate why an administrative publication should not be regarded as the final word when a candidate’s status is already the subject of litigation.
The Accord presidential hopeful has taken the matter before the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking, among other reliefs, an order compelling the Accord Party to recognise him as its presidential candidate and submit his name to INEC. The case has been heard and judgment reserved.
Hashim’s case is based on his claim that he emerged as the sole winner of Accord’s presidential primary conducted on May 30, 2026, after paying the required nomination fee. He also maintained that INEC officials monitored the exercise.
He therefore argued that his alleged emergence at the primary cannot be overturned simply through an administrative listing.
“The publication by INEC is not the final determination of my candidacy. There is a subsisting legal dispute before the court, and I have confidence in the judicial process,” Hashim said.
“I emerged from the presidential primary as the candidate. I have done what the law requires, and I believe the court will uphold the law.”
Hashim also accused unnamed political interests of attempting to keep him away from the 2027 ballot because, in his assessment, his candidacy could disrupt established political calculations.
He said he was prepared to campaign on issues affecting ordinary Nigerians rather than allow the presidential contest to be dominated by ethnicity, religion, sentiment or political divisions.
“I am the candidate they cannot easily fit into their old calculations. I am the candidate capable of winning votes across North and South,” he said.
Hashim added that his legal battle should not be viewed solely as a personal political struggle, arguing that it raises broader questions about internal democracy, party primaries and voters’ rights.
“The real issue is whether a political party can conduct a presidential primary, produce a winner, and subsequently prevent that winner from participating in the election,” he said.
He questioned what would happen to the rights of party members who participated in a primary if a candidate declared the winner could subsequently be prevented from appearing on the ballot.
“That is why this case matters beyond Gbenga Hashim. It is about whether the rules of our democracy apply to everyone, including those who occupy powerful institutions,” he said.
The Accord candidate urged his supporters to remain calm and continue to pursue the matter through lawful channels, stressing that he would not encourage anyone to take actions outside the law.
“I am not asking anyone to break the law. I am asking that the law be allowed to work,” Hashim said.
He added that he remained confident in the judicial process and would accept the court’s eventual decision.
“The court will speak, and when it does, we will abide by the judgment,” he said.
INEC’s final list contains presidential candidates sponsored by 18 political parties, with major names including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress and Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress. Hashim’s absence from the list has now become the subject of a pending legal challenge.
