FULL LIST: INEC releases final list of 18 presidential candidates for 2027 election

On Saturday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) unveiled the conclusive roster of presidential candidates and their running mates set to compete in the January 2027 general elections. The announcement, signed by the commission's Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, was made in Abuja. This list, which encompassed 18 presidential contenders from 18 distinct political parties, was released by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The gender breakdown of this list revealed that 16 out of the 18 presidential front-runners were male, accounting for 88.9 percent, while the remaining two candidates were female. Among the male candidates on the list were Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abubakar Atiku from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and Peter Obi of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC).

Other male candidates included Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Oluseyi Makinde of the Allied People’s Movement (APM), Donald Duke of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Chibuzor Okereke of the Labour Party (LP), and Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress (AAC).

The list also included two female presidential candidates, representing 11.1 percent of the total. These women were Okwori Fredrick of the National Democratic Party (NDP) and Dr Esther Okereke of the National Redemption Party (NRM). The gender ratio among the vice-presidential candidates was similar, with 14 running mates identified as male, making up 77.8 percent, and only four female candidates, which comprised 22.2 percent.

These four female vice-presidential candidates were Ofordile Egobia of the Appointed People's Party (APP), Abubakar Usaku of the Democratic League of Africa (DLA), Konto Bintu of the Labour Party (LP), and Patience Ndidi of the Young Progressive Party (YPP).

The Independent National Electoral Commission also announced the final lists of candidates for both the Senate and the House of Representatives.