INEC Excludes Danjuma Laah from Kaduna Governorship Candidates List as NDC Ticket Dispute Deepens

By Abubakar Labaran

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has omitted former Senator Danjuma Laah from its recently released list of governorship candidates for Kaduna State, raising fresh questions about whether his nomination was formally submitted and recognised as the National Democratic Congress (NDC)'s valid ticket.

The omission is significant because Laah had been announced by the NDC State Executive Committee and local government chairmen as their preferred candidate. However, rival claims and conflicting statements from the party's national leadership have left the identity of the candidate officially entitled to contest under the NDC unclear.

The omission comes amid conflicting claims over the NDC governorship ticket.

The state executive committee and local government chairmen reportedly adopted Laah as their candidate, but the party's national leadership later disowned a widely circulated document said to confirm his candidature.

The Deputy National Chairman (North), Alhaji Sidi Abdul Bomi, subsequently stated that the party had not formally issued a governorship ticket to any aspirant, contradicting the announcement by the state chapter.

The dispute intensified when Mohammed Sani Abbas also claimed the ticket, insisting that he was the party's legitimate governorship candidate.

Separately, some party stakeholders alleged that the name of the State Chairman, Mordecai Sunday Ibrahim, had been submitted to INEC as a placeholder pending the resolution of the nomination controversy.

These competing claims have left unclear which candidate, if any, was formally endorsed by the NDC's national leadership and submitted to INEC.

Laah's omission from the commission's list has therefore placed renewed pressure on the party to explain the status of the nomination process and the basis for the name submitted to the electoral body.

The precise reason for Laah's omission has not been officially disclosed.

Until the party and INEC provide clarification, the dispute could create legal and electoral uncertainty for the NDC and complicate its preparations for the Kaduna governorship election.