ARISE News Director of News and Politics Editor Sumner Sambo has observed that Nigeria's opposition parties appear noticeably slow, relaxed, or even unprepared as they get ready for the 2027 general elections.
In his recent comments, Sambo drew attention to the ongoing process around INEC's new digital membership registration rules under the Electoral Act 2026.
He pointed out that opposition minority caucuses are present in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and discussions about this e-registration law have been happening since last year.
Sambo found it surprising that opposition figures are now blaming the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for supposedly having early inside information about the upcoming INEC rules.
They claim this gave the APC a big advantage, allowing it to kick off its own membership e-registration exercise far ahead of other parties, some phases began as early as 2025.
Despite these accusations, Sambo noted that the opposition's own reaction has been quite weak. While the APC moved quickly to digitize and update its full membership database months in advance, most other major parties seemed to drag their feet and only started rushing when INEC's deadlines got closer.
This situation ties into the bigger debate over the 2026 Electoral Act rules, which require every political party to submit a complete digital membership register to INEC well before primaries (with the current timetable pointing to early April 2026).
Failing to meet this requirement could mean a party is barred from fielding candidates in 2027, raising the pressure especially on opposition groups hoping to challenge the APC.
Sambo's point highlights a clear difference: the ruling party acted fast and got organized early, while he sees the opposition benches as more laid-back and reactive.
With the election cycle heating up, the next few months will show whether opposition parties can speed up and catch up to make the contest more even.
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