The political careers of over 1,470 candidates, recently given certificates of return by the Tanimu Turaki-led group in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), now hang in the balance, following a decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to give its Access Code to the Nyesom Wike-led group to upload its candidates’ list for the 2027 general elections.

The INEC action marked a formal recognition of the Abdulrahman Mohamed and Samuel Anyanwu-led National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party.

The group sold forms from the 5th of May and ended on the 13th of May, at a cost ranging from N100 million for the Presidential candidate to about N2 million for State House of Assembly seats.

Ini Ememobong, the party’s National Publicity Secretary had in a statement, put the expression-of-interest and nomination forms for the Presidential candidate at N100 million while the Expression of Interest and Nomination Form for Governorship seat cost N40 million, while those contesting the Senate, House of Representatives, and State House of Assembly are expected to pay N10 million, N7 million and N2 million, respectively.

The decision by INEC came despite the ongoing efforts by the Tanimu Turaki-led Interim National Management Committee (INMC) to get the Federal High Court in Abuja to declare Wike’s group “illegal occupiers of the Wadata Plaza national secretariat of the party”.

On Tuesday, Justice Salim Ibrahim of the Federal High Court in Abuja had fixed July 7, 2026, for the hearing of the case filed by Chris Uche on behalf of Adolphus Wabara, Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees BoT, loyal to Turaki.

The Plaintiffs also include Babangida Aliyu, former Governor of Niger State, Jerry Gana, former Minister of Information, Olabode George, a Chieftain of the party, and the PDP, are seeking court orders on INEC to recognise the Turaki led group and offload names of the officials on its website

BusinessDay checks, on Wednesday, however, show that the electoral umpire handed over the INEC Access Code to the group, which has Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT as its national leader, to upload the list of candidates recently elected to contest the 2027 general elections.

A check on the INEC Portal revealed that INEC recognised only the Wike led PDP, which has Mohammed as the National Chairman and Samuel Anyanwu as the National Secretary.

Political pundits see the INEC action as a direct fulfilment of earlier claims by Wike that all those who are outside their camp will not get INEC’s recognition.

Only recently, the Turaki-led group delivered certificate of returns to former President Goodluck Jonathan, who they said “purchased the PDP” form to contest the 2027 Presidential election, on its platform.

A total of 1471 candidates, made up of one Presidential candidate, 28 Governorship, 109 Senatorial, 360 House of Representatives and 993 State House of Assembly candidates were issued certificates by the Turaki-led group at an elaborate ceremony at the Yar’adua Centre, recently, in Abuja.

John Enemari, a political analyst, while speaking with BusinessDay, wondered why INEC is in a haste to upload the list of candidates loyal to Nyesom Wike and his group.

According to him, “We are not surprised at what is going on now in the political space. Wike had vowed to use the PDP platform to ensure that President Bola Tinubu is re-elected to office for the second term, and he has never hidden his intentions.

“So, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for anyone with a different agenda to control the soul and structure of the PDP”.

Enemari, while citing other occurrences in other political parties, urged Nigerians to see the ongoing crisis in the PDP as part of the general plans by the ruling All Progressive Congress APC, to weaken the opposition parties.

“There is no better way to express it. The ruling APC does not want to see the emergence of strong contenders for the office of the President in the 2027 general election”, he said.

But Okechukwu Osuoha, Treasurer of the Wike-led PDP, disagreed. According to him,” Nobody gives power. Politics is about the struggle to win an election.

“We are happy that they have taken their case to the judiciary; let us wait for the outcome. You cannot eat your cake and have it back”.

In another desperate bid to send the the Abdulrahman Mohamed-led group packing, the Turaki’s group filed another formal petition to the Inspector-General of Police.

In the petition filed by Ogbeide Associates (solicitors to the PDP), the petitioners are demanding a criminal investigation of Samuel Anyanwu (former National Secretary) and Abdulrahman Mohammed for allegedly furnishing false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The petition revolves around a letter dated November 3, 2025, which was submitted to INEC by Samuel Anyanwu, which claimed that the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) had officially suspended Umar Damagum as Acting National Chairman and replaced him with Abdulrahman Mohammed.

The petitioners argue that the letter sent to INEC was an outright fabrication of party resolutions.

According to the PDP’s official records of proceedings at the 608th Emergency NWC Meeting held on November 1, 2025, the NWC voted rather to suspend Samuel Anyanwu and three other principal officers (allied with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike) for one month over anti-party activities. The NWC appointed the Deputy National Secretary, Setonji Koshoedo, to act in Anyanwu’s place.

The petitioners noted that official attendance logs show Anyanwu was absent from that meeting, while Abdulrahman Mohammed was present. Therefore, Mohammed had firsthand knowledge that Damagum was not suspended by the NWC, yet the November 3rd letter claimed the exact opposite.

They are also citing the Court of Appeal judgment of March 9, 2026, which they say explicitly affirmed the NWC’s suspension of Anyanwu, stripping him of his authority to sign correspondence on behalf of the party during that period.

They argue that legal architecture further complicates the validity of the disputed letter.

According to the petitioners, “A Federal High Court judgment (Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/579/2024) had previously recognized Ambassador Damagum as the legitimate Acting National Chairman and specifically restrained INEC from recognizing or acting upon any party documents that did not bear Damagum’s signature. Ironically, Senator Anyanwu himself had forwarded this very judgment to INEC in late 2024, demanding compliance”.

But while these cases are ongoing, the Wike-led group have firmly taken over the party’s National Secretariat, offloaded names of its candidates and is working with INEC ahead of the 2027 general elections, while the Turaki group operates from borrowed offices.