The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced the training of political party representatives on the use of its online nomination portal as preparations for the 2027 general elections gather momentum.
The electoral commission also reminded political parties that they have until July 11, 2026, to complete the upload of nomination forms for their presidential and National Assembly candidates.
A senior INEC official, who spoke on the exercise, said it was too early to assess the level of compliance by political parties, noting that the commission was still engaging stakeholders to ensure a seamless nomination process.
According to the official, political parties have been adequately trained on the procedures for uploading candidates’ details to the commission’s portal.
“We are interfacing with them. They have until July 11 to finish their uploads. It’s too early to talk about compliance or otherwise.
“The ICT personnel of the parties know the processes of uploading the required details. Last Thursday and Friday, we had a training for representatives of political parties.
“If they have challenges, our personnel are on standby to assist. It’s nothing difficult,” the source said.
INEC Responds To Access Code Claims
Reacting to reports that some political parties had not received the access codes required to use the nomination portal, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, dismissed the claims.
She explained that access codes are issued after political parties participate in the commission’s training sessions.
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“Any party claiming that they do not have the access codes should first answer whether they attended the training on Thursday and Friday. Were they expecting to receive the codes without participating in the training?
“The training continues, and if by Monday they have not received the codes, then they can make such claims,” she said.
Nomination Timetable
According to INEC’s revised election timetable, the online portal for the submission of Forms EC9 and EC9A to EC9Efor presidential and National Assembly candidates opened at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 27, 2026, and will close at 6:00 p.m. on July 11, 2026.
The commission further stated that the portal for governorship and State House of Assembly candidates will open on July 18, 2026, and close on August 8, 2026.
INEC explained that the nomination exercise is being conducted in line with Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which requires political parties to submit the names of their candidates not later than 120 days before the date of the election.