INEC Clears 15 Candidates for 2027 Enugu Governorship Race as Mbah Seeks Second Term
Enugu — Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State will face 14 other candidates in the 2027 governorship election, as political parties across the state continue positioning themselves ahead of what is shaping up to be a keenly contested race for control of the state.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) displayed the list of governorship candidates at its Enugu State headquarters on Monday, with the document containing the credentials of all 15 candidates cleared to participate in the election. Mbah, the incumbent governor, is seeking re-election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), having earlier defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party under which he won the governorship in 2023.
Among those cleared to challenge him is Chief Uchenna Nnaji of the PDP, a former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, who is contesting on the platform of Mbah’s former party. Other prominent candidates on the ballot include Chief Chinyeaka Ohaa of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), a former Permanent Secretary at the Federal Capital Territory Administration, and Chief Obodoeze Ocho of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Also in the race are Edwin Alor, running under the Accord Party, and Professor Jehu Nnaji of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), alongside several other candidates cleared by the electoral commission.
With the full list of 15 candidates now confirmed, candidates and their supporters have already begun engaging political stakeholders, community leaders, and other influential figures across the state as they work to build support ahead of the election. Mbah is expected to make his administration’s infrastructure projects and social intervention programmes central to his re-election campaign, with his government highlighting what it describes as verifiable projects and initiatives that have directly impacted residents since he took office.
The governor’s path to a second term is expected to be tested not only by opposition parties but also by pockets of resistance closer to home, with political undercurrents in the Enugu East senatorial district, particularly around the Nsukka axis, previously signalling possible friction over zoning expectations and internal consensus within his own political base ahead of the 2027 cycle. Mbah, who hails from Nkanu East Local Government Area, has also had to work to consolidate and rebrand the APC’s structure in Enugu State, a task complicated by the party’s historically limited acceptance in the predominantly PDP-leaning South-East region.
With 15 candidates now formally on the ballot, the 2027 Enugu State governorship election is shaping up as one of the more closely watched contests in Nigeria’s South-East region, with debates expected to centre on infrastructure development, economic growth, governance performance, and public welfare as the crowded field of candidates works to draw support away from the incumbent administration ahead of the polls.
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