The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has officially launched its 2027 presidential race, requiring aspirants to pay a combined ₦60 million in Expression of Interest and Nomination Form fees to contest the party’s presidential ticket.
In a timetable and fee schedule released on Tuesday and jointly signed by the party’s National Chairman, Senator Moses Zwughele, and National Secretary, Barrister Ikenna Enenweizu, the NDC laid out a detailed roadmap for its internal primaries, setting a brisk pace that would see its presidential candidate emerge by the end of this month.
Under the approved fee structure, presidential hopefuls will pay ₦20 million for the expression of interest form and ₦40 million for the nomination form, a combined ₦60 million outlay that, while steep by any ordinary measure, the party insists remains among the lowest levied by major political parties in Nigeria today.
The fees cascade downward across elective offices. Governorship aspirants will pay ₦30 million in total: ₦10 million for the Expression of Interest Form and ₦20 million for the Nomination Form. Senate aspirants face a ₦8 million bill, while those eyeing a seat in the House of Representatives will pay ₦6 million.
At the state level, aspirants for State Houses of Assembly will part with ₦2.5 million, comprising ₦1 million and ₦1.5 million for the respective forms.
Female aspirants will pay just 50 percent of the prescribed fees across all categories, while persons living with disabilities will be required to pay only 25 percent—concessions that party officials say reflect their commitment to broadening political participation beyond the traditional corridors of power and privilege.
Perhaps more striking than the fees is the sheer velocity of the NDC’s primary schedule. With the sale of Expression of Interest Forms opening today, Wednesday, May 13, and closing by Monday, May 18, aspirants have less than a week to formalize their intentions before the party moves swiftly into its screening phase.
Screening and interviews of aspirants are scheduled to run from Tuesday, May 19 to Thursday, May 21, a three-day window in which the party will assess the eligibility of prospective candidates against its internal requirements.
The NDC has advised all aspirants to appear before screening panels with “all relevant credentials and supporting documents,” signaling that the exercise will be rigorous rather than ceremonial.
Those who clear the screening hurdle will immediately proceed to purchase nomination forms, the sale of which opens on May 21 and closes on May 23. Completed forms must be submitted no later than Monday, May 25.
Should any aspirant feel aggrieved by the outcome of the screening process, the party has carved out May 25 and 26 for the hearing of appeals, a procedural safeguard that could prove critical in what is shaping up to be a fiercely competitive internal contest.
Primary elections for various elective offices will be held on May 27 and 28, with the grand centerpiece, the ‘Presidential Primary Election,’ scheduled for Friday, May 29, 2026, in Abuja.
In a political environment where accusations of manipulated primaries and opaque candidate selection processes have dogged nearly every major party, the NDC has made a pointed effort to signal its commitment to procedural integrity.
The party announced it would adopt the ‘open secret ballot system’ for all its primary elections, a mechanism designed to balance transparency with the protection of individual voters from undue pressure or coercion.
Structural arrangements have also been clearly defined. Aspirants seeking State House of Assembly tickets will be screened in their respective states, while those contesting for National Assembly seats and the presidency will face scrutiny at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja.
Governorship primaries, meanwhile, will be conducted at the local government level,, a decentralized approach intended to ground the process in grassroots participation.
All aspirants, regardless of category, will additionally be required to sign a formal undertaking aligned with the party’s guidelines and code of conduct — a measure that serves as both a loyalty pledge and an accountability instrument.
The NDC’s announcements carry considerable political weight given the trajectory of the party in recent months. Founded under the guiding influence of former Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson, the party has rapidly emerged as a destination for high-profile political figures disillusioned with Nigeria’s established parties.
Most significantly, former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, who galvanised millions of young Nigerians with his 2023 presidential run, and former NNPP presidential candidate Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the influential Kano political godfather, have both folded into the NDC movement ahead of 2027.
Their convergence on the platform has transformed the NDC from a relatively peripheral actor into a potentially formidable force in the nation’s political calculus.
The party held its inaugural national convention on May 9, 2026, at the Los Angeles Event Centre, where it formally zoned its presidential ticket to Southern Nigeria a declaration that sets the ideological and geographic parameters of the race now formally underway.
With its timetable now public and its fee structure in place, the NDC enters a critical fortnight that will define its character and credibility as a political organisation. The speed of its schedule suggests a party eager to consolidate momentum and present a united front well ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Whether the combination of competitive fees, transparent processes, and high-profile endorsements can translate into genuine electoral strength remains to be seen. But for now, one thing is clear: the race for Nigeria’s presidency in 2027 has, at least within the NDC, officially begun.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The NDC has formally launched its 2027 presidential race with a ₦60 million fee for presidential aspirants, a tight primary schedule culminating in a presidential primary on May 29 in Abuja, and notable inclusivity concessions: women pay half the prescribed fees, and persons with disabilities pay a quarter.
Backed by the political weight of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, and having already zoned its presidential ticket to Southern Nigeria, the party is making a calculated and accelerated push to establish itself as Nigeria’s most credible opposition platform ahead of 2027.
