ABUJA — Political parties across Nigeria are racing against time to meet a July 11, 2026 deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the upload of candidates’ nomination details, as preparations intensify for the 2027 general elections.

The electoral body disclosed that it has already commenced training sessions for party representatives on how to navigate its online nomination portal, a move aimed at easing the submission process for presidential and National Assembly hopefuls.

FG Introduces New Telecom Share Transfer Rules To Protect Competition, Consumers And Investors

A source within INEC told Newsworld Media Network that while the training has taken off, it remains premature to gauge how compliant the parties will be, stressing that engagement with them is still very much in progress. The source noted that party ICT officers are not new to the upload requirements, having passed through dedicated training held last Thursday and Friday, and assured that INEC technical staff remain available to step in wherever parties run into difficulties.

Weighing in on lingering complaints from some quarters that certain parties had yet to receive their access codes, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, pushed back, asking whether the affected parties had actually shown up for the Thursday and Friday training — since, according to her, the codes were issued in connection with that exercise. She maintained that training is still ongoing, and only parties still without codes after Monday would have a legitimate basis to complain.

Findings by Newsworld Media Network show that under INEC’s adjusted election timetable, the nomination portal — used for submitting Forms EC9 and EC9A through EC9E — went live by 9am on Saturday, June 27, 2026, and is billed to shut down by 6pm on July 11, 2026, strictly for presidential and National Assembly candidates.

A separate window has been mapped out for governorship and state Houses of Assembly candidates, with the portal opening July 18, 2026, and closing August 8, 2026.

INEC explained that the entire process is anchored on Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which stipulates that candidate nominations must be submitted no later than 120 days ahead of the election date.