The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has set October 24 as the deadline for political parties to report candidates wrongly omitted from the final list for the 2027 governorship election.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mohammed Haruna, INEC’s
commissioner and chairman of the information and voter education committee,
said parties have 14 days from the date of publication to report such omissions
to the commission.
Haruna said the deadline is in accordance with section 32(2)
of the Electoral Act (2026).
“The general public is aware of the recent decision of the
Supreme Court in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party, Appeal No. SC/CV/495/2026
delivered on 24th September, 2026,” the statement reads.
“The decision arose from INEC’s appeal against the judgement
of the Court of Appeal, which nullified the provisions of Section 77(5)-(7) of
the Electoral Act, 2026 requiring the submission of membership registers as a
prerequisite for the conduct of valid party primaries.
“However, the Supreme Court, in the aforementioned
judgement, held that the provisions of Section 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act,
2026 are constitutional and mandatory for all political parties.
“In particular, the Court upheld the constitutionality of
Item No. 2 of INEC’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities, which mandated
political parties to submit their membership registers between 21st April and
10th May, 2026.
“Furthermore, the Court held that failure to comply with the
provisions of Section 77 (5)-(7), renders the defaulting political parties
ineligible to sponsor any candidate for the election.
“In accordance with Section 287(1) of the Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Commission, while
finalizing the list of candidates for the Governorship election applied the
above decision of the Supreme Court and excluded political parties that failed
to comply with Section 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026, in relation to
fielding of candidates.”
Haruna also said the final list of presidential and national
assembly candidates was published on September 12, 2026, 13 days before the Supreme Court judgment.
BACKSTORY
In September, a seven-member panel of the supreme court
upheld an appeal filed by INEC and restored sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and
84(2) of the Electoral Act.
The Supreme Court, in its lead judgment delivered by Adamu
Jauro, held that the provisions voided by the appeal court in July are not
inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution.
The apex court set aside the appellant court’s verdict and
restored the Federal High Court’s ruling, which had dismissed the suit filed by
the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) challenging the provisions.
Section 77(5) of the Electoral Act provides that only
members whose names are contained in a political party’s membership register,
submitted to INEC at least 21 days before a primary, congress, or convention,
can participate in the exercise.
Section 77(6) states that a party cannot use any membership
register other than the one submitted to the electoral commission for its
primaries, congresses, and conventions.
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