In a major shakeup ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Federal High Court in Abuja has struck down several key deadlines set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for party primaries and candidate nominations, offering a significant legal lifeline to political parties.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Mohammed Umar held that portions of INEC’s revised timetable were inconsistent with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.
Notably, the court set aside INEC’s May 10 deadline directing political parties to submit their membership registers and databases as a mandatory condition for election participation.
The landmark ruling followed a lawsuit (FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2016) filed by the Youth Party (YP), which challenged the electoral body’s authority to shorten deadlines explicitly guaranteed by law.
Although the judgment was delivered on Wednesday, the Certified True Copy was made available on Thursday. Ruling in favor of the plaintiff, Justice Umar emphasized that Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act 2026 grants political parties up to 120 days before an election to submit the personal particulars of their candidates, meaning INEC cannot lawfully abridge that period through an administrative timetable.
Furthermore, the court faulted several other restrictions imposed by the commission, ruling that INEC lacked the statutory authority to alter timelines for candidate substitutions and campaigns.
Justice Umar noted that Section 31 of the Electoral Act allows parties to withdraw or substitute candidates up to 90 days before an election, while Section 32 prescribes a minimum 60-day window for publishing final candidate lists—both of which INEC tried to shorten.
Additionally, the judge declared that INEC does not possess the legal authority under Section 98 of the Act to mandate the closure of campaigns exactly two days before an election.
Consequently, the court nullified all aspects of INEC’s revised timetable relating to party primaries, submission of candidate particulars, withdrawal and replacement of candidates, publication of final lists, and campaign schedules that conflict with the Electoral Act 2026.
The judge also clarified that the timeframe for submitting membership registers does not apply to primary elections held to replace withdrawn candidates.
This sweeping judgment is expected to have significant implications for the 2027 election cycle, forcing both political parties and the electoral commission to urgently reassess their preparatory strategies.
