The Nigeria Democratic Congress has opened the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms for aspirants ahead of the 2027 general election, setting the presidential form cost at N20 million for the first stage and N40 million for the next.
The party said the sale of expression of interest forms will run from May 13, 2026 to May 18, 2026, while screening and interviews are scheduled for May 19 to May 21, 2026. Nomination forms will then be sold from May 21 to May 23, 2026, with completed forms due by May 25, 2026.
The timetable gives aspirants little room to delay. Appeals from the screening process will be heard between May 25 and May 26, 2026, primary elections for various elective offices are set for May 27 and May 28, 2026, and the party’s presidential primary will hold in Abuja on May 29, 2026.
The NDC said its approved nomination fees remain among the lowest among major political parties in the country. It described the process as “a transparent, inclusive, and democratic process” and said the presidential contest will be conducted by “open secret ballot.”
Those payments are still steep by ordinary standards. Alongside the N20 million expression fee and the N40 million nomination fee, the party has also fixed other charges at N1 million, N1.5 million, N2 million, N3 million, N4 million, N5 million and N10 million for different categories of aspirants.
The forms are being sold ahead of a vote that is still more than a year away, but the schedule already narrows the field. Screening will determine who can proceed to buy nomination forms, with state houses of assembly aspirants screened in their respective states, national assembly and presidential aspirants screened at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja, and governorship primaries conducted at the local government level.
That makes the N20 million and N40 million presidential fee more than a headline number. It is the price of entry into a contest the party says will be open, but one that will quickly reveal which aspirants can raise the money and keep pace with a calendar that ends with the presidential primary in Abuja on May 29, 2026.
