Ahead of the 2027 general election, political parties have received relief after the Federal High Court in Abuja invalidated the timeline that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) issued for the conduct of primaries and the nomination of candidates.
The court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Umar, also set aside 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.
It held that the time frame the Commission imposed for political parties to conduct their primaries and to submit, withdraw, or replace the names and particulars of their candidates for the general elections “is inconsistent with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.”
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.
Even though the judgment was delivered on Wednesday, the Certified True Copy (CTC) was made available on Thursday, with the electoral body listed as the sole defendant in YP’s suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2016.
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.
While agreeing with the YP, Justice Umar declared that in view of 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 to an election, “INEC cannot lawfully abridge or limit that statutory period by prescribing a shorter timeframe in its 2027 election timetable.”
Likewise, the court held that in line with 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 INEC lacks the powers to abridge or limit that statutory period by fixing an earlier deadline for the withdrawal and replacement of candidates in its 2027 election timetable.
The post 2027 Elections: Court Nullifies INEC’s Deadline For Primaries, Nomination Of Candidates appeared first on Information Nigeria.
InformationNG
Business Day