Electoral Act: INEC Takes Final Position On Parties, Candidates Over Supreme Court Verdict Next Tuesday

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will announce its final position next Tuesday on the implications of the Supreme Court judgment concerning political parties that failed to comply with statutory requirements for membership registers ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The commission warned that political parties that fielded candidates whose names were not on the membership registers submitted to INEC within the stipulated period would not be allowed to participate in the elections through such candidates.

INEC also indicated that the affected parties would not be permitted to substitute the candidates, stressing that political parties should not benefit from violations of electoral laws.

The Supreme Court, in its September 24, 2026, judgment, affirmed the constitutionality of Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act 2026 and upheld INEC’s revised timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 general elections.

Among the candidates whose nominations could be affected are the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Rivers State, Kingsley Chinda; the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) senatorial candidate for Delta Central, Ovie Omo-Agege; former Cross River State Governor and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate, Donald Duke; and former Delta State House of Assembly Speaker, Victor Ochei.

Others are former Inspector-General of Police and SDP governorship candidate in Nasarawa State, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu; former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy and PDP governorship candidate in Gombe, Professor Isa Ali Pantami; and Senator Saliu Mustapha in Kwara State. They had dismissed reports of their candidacy being in jeopardy.

INEC National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed the commission’s position while speaking on Trust TV’s Daily Politics programme on Monday.

Haruna explained that allowing parties to replace candidates whose nominations violated the law would amount to permitting them to benefit from their own wrongdoing.

“It’s like you committed an offence. And then, you come and benefit from it. You remember cases that we had of some in Zamfara, you remember Plateau? The same thing happened.

“The parties, because they did the wrong thing, they thought they could now steal through the candidates.

“And the law was very clear. Once you do that kind of thing, you cannot benefit from it. You are benefiting from it, if you are able to substitute a candidate,” he said.

He added that, depending on the outcome of the commission’s review, some political parties could be barred from fielding candidates for other elective positions, including seats in the state Houses of Assembly.

According to Haruna, INEC had interviewed candidates contesting for various positions, including legislative seats, and discovered that some were not listed in their parties’ membership registers at the time they contested for their respective tickets.

“All the candidates, all the way to the Houses of Assembly, we interviewed them. If their names are not on the party register, they were not members of the party at the time that they contested for those tickets,” he stated.

The INEC commissioner explained that the commission had delayed its final pronouncement to obtain legal advice following the receipt of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Supreme Court judgment.

He said the commission was exercising caution to ensure that its decision was based on an authentic court document, noting that forged judgments had been presented in previous cases.

“You can’t be too careful with these things because even when you see copies and they tell you it’s a CTC, it may be forged. We’ve seen instances where people have even gone, have the audacity to forge a Supreme Court judgment.

“So, we have to be very careful to make sure that we take the right decision,” Haruna said.

The commission’s anticipated announcement next Tuesday is expected to clarify the consequences for political parties and candidates found to have breached the statutory requirements, as preparations continue for the 2027 general elections.