Olushola Omogbehin
The Federal High Court in Abuja has nullified the timeline that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) issued for the conduct of primaries and the nomination of candidates.
Sequel to a suit challenging the electoral umpire’s timeframe for the conduct of the 2027 general elections, Justice Mohammed Garba Umar, held that the timeframe imposed by INEC on political parties to conduct their primaries, submit, withdraw and replace names and particulars of their candidates for the 2027 general elections “is not consistent with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026,” and is hereby set aside.
The court, in the judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Umar on Wednesday, also set aside the INEC’s May 10 deadline requiring political parties to submit a register and database of all their members as a condition for qualifying to participate in the general elections.
The earlier timeframe imposed by INEC was aimed at preventing people who lost in primary elections from defecting to another party and vying for the same office they earlier lost in their former party.
The judgment followed a legal action brought by the Youth Party (YP) to compel INEC to comply with the Electoral Act 2026’s 120‑day pre‑election deadline for submitting party registers and candidates’ personal particulars.
The plaintiff had prayed the court to declare that upon a proper consideration and interpretation of the provisions of Sections 29, 82 and 84(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026, the powers of the INEC to receive notice of party primaries and the personal particulars of candidates, and its duty to attend, observe and monitor such primaries, does not extend to fixing or prescribing the timetable within which political parties may conduct their primary elections for the purpose of nominating candidates for the 2027 general elections.
Agreeing with the Youth Party, Justice Umar held that, going by the provisions of Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which requires political parties to submit the personal particulars of their candidates not later than 120 days before an election, “INEC cannot lawfully abridge or limit that statutory period by prescribing a shorter timeframe in its 2027 election timetable.”
Also citing Section 31 of the Electoral Act, 2026, which permits political parties to withdraw and substitute candidates not later than 90 days before the conduct of an election, the court said INEC has no power to abridge or limit that statutory period by fixing an earlier deadline for the withdrawal and replacement of candidates in its 2027 election timetable.
According to the provisions of Section 32 of the Electoral Act, 2026, INEC does not possess the statutory power to publish the final list of candidates for the 2027 general election before the 60-day minimum period prescribed by law.
“A Declaration is made that upon the proper construction of Section 98 of the Electoral Act, 2026, the defendant does not possess the statutory authority to fix in its timetable for the 2027 general elections for campaigns to end two days before the elections.
“A Declaration is made that upon the proper interpretation of Section 33 of the Electoral Act, 2026, the timeframe prescribed by the defendant for submission of membership registers for the conduct of primary elections is not applicable to primary elections conducted for the purpose of replacing withdrawn candidates.”
The court made an order “setting aside or nullifying the time-frames imposed by the defendant in its Revised Timetable and Schedule of Activities for 2027 General Election for the conduct of primary elections by political parties for the 2027 general elections, the submission of personal particulars of candidates by their political parties for the 2027 general elections, the withdrawal and replacement of candidates by political parties for the 2027 general elections, the publication of the final list of candidates for the 2027 general elections and campaigning for the 2027 general elections which is inconsistent with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.”
By the revised timetable, all 18 political parties are to submit their membership registers to the commission by May 10, conduct primaries for the selection of candidates, as well as apply for withdrawal and submit replacement candidates for the 2027 general elections before or by the end of May.
