The Independent National Electoral Commission says it will not determine the fate of candidates who may be affected by the recent Supreme Court judgment until it receives and reviews the certified true copy of the ruling.
The development has heightened uncertainty among political parties and candidates as the commission prepares to publish the final list of candidates for the 2027 governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.
INEC is scheduled to meet with political parties and other stakeholders on Tuesday, October 6, as part of its preparations for the 2027 general elections. The commission is also expected to hold a World Press Conference on the same day.
However, the electoral body has yet to state how the Supreme Court judgment will affect candidates whose party primaries, membership status or nomination processes could be questioned following the restoration of provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.
The National Commissioner and Chairman of INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, said the commission was awaiting the certified true copy of the judgment before taking a position on the matter.
Haruna said INEC had already applied for the document and expected to receive it before the scheduled engagement with political parties and other stakeholders.
“The commission is yet to receive the certified true copy of the Supreme Court judgement. Hopefully we will do so tomorrow, (Monday). Until we do so and deliberate on it we cannot make any pronouncement on the issue,” he said.
The Director of Voter Education and Publicity at INEC, Victoria Eta-Messi, also confirmed that the commission had formally requested the certified document.
“The Commission had applied for the CTC and an opinion will be offered on the import of the latest Judgment of the Supreme Court,” she said.
Until INEC issues its interpretation, political parties and candidates whose nominations could be affected by the ruling may remain uncertain about the status of their candidacies.
The Supreme Court, in its September 24 judgment, overturned an earlier decision of the Court of Appeal that had invalidated provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 dealing with political party membership registers and the nomination of candidates.
A seven-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Adamu Jauro, allowed INEC’s appeal and reinstated the earlier judgment of the Federal High Court.
The Supreme Court consequently upheld Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, provisions that have major implications for political parties and their internal nomination procedures.
Under the restored provisions, only party members whose names appear on the membership register submitted to INEC within the stipulated period are eligible to participate in party primaries, congresses and conventions.
The provisions also bar political parties from relying on a different membership register during those exercises.
The law further prescribes consequences for political parties that fail to submit their membership registers within the required timeframe.
Section 84(2) of the Act addresses the procedures available to political parties for selecting their candidates, including direct primaries and consensus arrangements.
The legal battle over the provisions began after the Zenith Labour Party challenged them before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The Federal High Court dismissed the suit on May 5, 2026, prompting the ZLP to appeal the decision at the Court of Appeal.
On July 16, the Court of Appeal partly upheld the party’s appeal and nullified the contested provisions. INEC subsequently approached the Supreme Court to challenge the appellate court’s decision.
The apex court eventually overturned the Court of Appeal judgment and restored the decision of the Federal High Court.
The Supreme Court ruling has generated fresh concerns because a number of political parties conducted their primaries and other internal activities while the Court of Appeal judgment remained in effect.
Consequently, some parties proceeded on the basis that the disputed provisions were no longer enforceable at the time they conducted their internal electoral processes.
With the Supreme Court restoring the provisions, attention has shifted to the membership registers submitted by political parties before their respective primaries.
A central question confronting INEC is whether candidates who emerged from party processes conducted during the period when the provisions had been nullified could be affected by the subsequent Supreme Court ruling.
The issue is particularly significant for candidates who joined their political parties shortly before the parties conducted their primaries.
The controversy has already emerged in several states.
In Rivers State, questions have been raised about the eligibility of APC governorship candidate Kingsley Chinda following the Supreme Court judgment.
Chinda was reported to have registered as a member of the APC on April 27, 2026, before emerging as the party’s governorship candidate at its May 21 primary.
The Rivers APC has maintained that Chinda met the 21-day requirement, arguing that more than three weeks elapsed between his registration and the party’s governorship primary.
Related questions have also emerged in other states concerning politicians who defected to new parties before obtaining tickets to contest the 2027 elections.
In Gombe State, compliance with the party membership register requirement has featured in a recent court ruling.
The Federal High Court in Gombe nullified an APC primary for the Balanga/Billiri Federal Constituency after ruling that the party’s candidate was not included in the membership register submitted to INEC within the prescribed period.
The series of developments has increased pressure on INEC to explain how the Supreme Court judgment will be applied to the electoral process already underway.
The commission had previously scheduled October 10 for the publication of the final list of candidates for the governorship and State Assembly elections.
The final list is expected to contain the candidates whose nominations remain valid after the completion of the statutory processes covering nomination, withdrawal, substitution and related procedures.
The governorship and State Assembly elections are scheduled to take place on February 6, 2027.
INEC had earlier published the particulars of nominated candidates in line with its electoral timetable.
Political parties, however, retained the opportunity to withdraw or substitute candidates within the applicable statutory deadlines.
The October 10 publication is therefore expected to provide the definitive list of candidates recognised by INEC to contest the 2027 governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.
