APGA, PDP others miss INEC deadline for candidates list submission as portal closes

Three political parties failed to submit their presidential candidate lists to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the extended candidate nomination portal officially shut down at midnight on Tuesday, July 14, 2026.

While INEC has not yet published the full official list explicitly naming all three failed minor parties, reports confirm that the major political blocks successfully beat the deadline.

The All Progressive Congress (APC) have successfully uploaded all its candidates, including its presidential, vice-presidential, and National Assembly tickets, before the initial July 11 deadline. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) completed its submission, including the presidential ticket under the Nyesom Wike-led faction. African Democratic Congress (ADC) successfully uploaded its presidential ticket, consisting of Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Rotimi Amaechi. Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) also successfully gained portal access and uploaded its ticket, featuring Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso.

The portal was originally scheduled to close on Saturday, July 11, 2026. Following an urgent appeal by the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), INEC extended the grace period to July 14.Partial Submissions.

Following the closure of the online nomination portal by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the specific political parties that failed to submit or upload their presidential candidates included All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), a fraction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Labour Party (LP), specifically the faction led by Julius Abure

In addition to the three parties that missed out completely, several other registered parties only completed partial submissions, uploading their presidential candidates while failing to attach their required running mates before the portal locked.

The Accord Party is among those currently facing ongoing legal challenges regarding internal disputes that slowed down their submission progress.