2027: INEC Final List Sets Off Senate Race

The Independent National Electoral Commission has released the final list of candidates for the 2027 National Assembly elections, formally setting the stage for what is expected to be a competitive battle for seats in the Senate and House of Representatives.

The commission cleared 4,408 candidates for the two chambers, comprising 1,195 Senate candidates and 3,213 candidates contesting seats in the House of Representatives.

The Senate race is particularly significant, with candidates from various political parties now confirmed for the contest ahead of the January 16, 2027 election.

Of the 1,195 candidates seeking Senate seats, 1,080 are men while 115 are women, highlighting the continued gender imbalance in Nigeria’s legislative contests.

The House of Representatives list similarly contains 2,885 male candidates and 328 female candidates. Across both chambers, male candidates account for 3,965 of the total, while women represent 443.

The final list marks an important transition from party primaries and nomination processes to the broader campaign phase, as candidates and political parties begin intensified efforts to mobilise voters across the country.

The Allied Peoples Movement recorded the highest number of female candidates across the two chambers, with 11 women contesting Senate seats and 42 seeking election to the House of Representatives.

The National Assembly elections will hold alongside the presidential election on January 16, 2027, according to INEC’s revised timetable. Governorship and State House of Assembly elections are scheduled for February 6, 2027.

The release of the National Assembly list followed INEC’s publication of the final list of presidential and vice-presidential candidates for the 2027 election.

That presidential list contains 18 candidates and their running mates representing 18 political parties, including President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress.

With the final National Assembly candidates now officially published, political parties are expected to intensify campaigns, alliances and grassroots mobilisation as the 2027 electoral contest gathers momentum.