The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared as fake a circulating online publication that claimed to be a special announcement about problems with the lists of governorship candidates in six states ahead of the 2027 elections.
In a public notice issued on Monday, 12 October 2026, and shared on its verified platforms, INEC said the document did not come from the commission. The states named in the fraudulent publication are Zamfara, Gombe, Delta, Plateau, Yobe and Kano.
“The Commission wishes to categorically inform the general public that the publication is FAKE and did not originate from INEC,” the notice stated. It added that any suggestion that the commission had issued a special announcement concerning governorship candidates in those states was false.
INEC urged members of the public to disregard the document and stop sharing it. The commission directed Nigerians to rely only on information released through its official channels: the website inecnigeria.org, the Facebook page INEC Nigeria, the X and Instagram accounts @inecnigeria, and the news portal inecnews.com.
For further enquiries, the commission listed its call centre on 0700-CALL-INEC (0700-2255-4632), short code 4632, phone numbers 090844444333 and 09050858629, and the email iccc@inec.gov.ng.
The notice comes shortly after INEC released the final lists of candidates for the governorship elections scheduled for 6 February 2027. Those lists, published in the days before the warning, drew attention because the names of some expected candidates were absent. Among those reported missing were the Peoples Democratic Party candidates Ladi Adebutu in Ogun State and Isa Pantami in Gombe State. The published documents gave no reasons for the omissions.
Reports indicate the fake notice had been designed to resemble an official INEC document. It carried the commission’s logo and appeared under the name of the INEC Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony. Some versions were circulated as scanned images.
INEC has repeatedly cautioned the public against false electoral information in the build-up to the 2027 general elections. The commission stressed that accurate updates on candidates and other electoral matters will continue to be issued only through its verified platforms.
Political parties, candidates and voters have been advised to cross-check any claims about candidate lists or related developments against the official sources listed by the commission.
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