Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
In a judgment that has fundamentally redrawn the political landscape ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Federal High Court in Abuja has stripped the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of its power to fix deadlines for party primaries, candidate nominations, and a host of other pre‑election activities, ruling that the commission exceeded its statutory authority by shortening timelines expressly guaranteed under the Electoral Act, 2026. Justice Mohammed G. Umar, delivering the judgment in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2026 filed by the Youth Party against INEC on March 11, 2026, granted all six reliefs sought by the plaintiff and set aside what he described as “inconsistent” portions of the commission’s Revised Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2027 General Elections.
The suit had challenged a range of deadlines that political parties and candidates had been forced to work within. Under INEC’s original timetable, issued on 26 February 2026, all political parties were required to submit their membership registers to INEC by 10 May 2026; complete their primaries for the nomination of candidates by the end of May; file candidate withdrawals and replacements within a similarly compressed window; and comply with a campaign‑cut‑off two days before polling. Justice Umar, however, held that none of those deadlines could stand because they unlawfully abridged the statutory periods laid out in the Electoral Act, 2026. “A declaration is hereby made 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 defendant 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,” the judge ruled.
The court’s reasoning was meticulous. Justice Umar pointed out that Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act allows political parties up to 120 days before an election to submit the personal particulars of their candidates. He declared that INEC cannot lawfully abridge that statutory period by imposing a shorter deadline in its own timetable. Similarly, with regard to the withdrawal and substitution of candidates, the judge cited Section 31 of the Act, which permits parties to make such changes up to 90 days before an election. “The defendant cannot lawfully abridge or limit that statutory period by fixing an earlier deadline for the withdrawal and replacement of candidates in its 2027 election timetable,” the judgment stated. The court also held that INEC possesses no statutory power to publish the final list of candidates earlier than the 60‑day minimum period prescribed by law, nor does it have authority under Section 98 of the Electoral Act to order that campaigns end two days before polling.
Notably, the judge also clarified a point that directly affects party primaries held to replace withdrawn candidates: the timeframe prescribed by INEC for the submission of membership registers does not apply when a party conducts a fresh primary to fill a vacancy created by a candidate’s withdrawal. That clarification effectively frees parties from the earlier restriction that only members whose names appeared on a register submitted by 10 May were eligible to stand in primaries.
The plaintiff, the Youth Party, had argued that INEC’s compressed timetable was not merely administrative but was deliberately designed to prevent politicians who lost in their party primaries from defecting to other parties and contesting for the same offices. The court agreed, stating that the commission’s action imposed restrictive timeframes that were inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the Electoral Act.
Reactions to the judgment have been swift and sharply divided along party lines. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) was among the first to welcome the ruling, with its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, describing it as a “welcome vindication” of the party’s earlier objections to INEC’s guidelines. “We believed at the time that that particular restriction was designed to prevent people from leaving the ruling party, APC. Now that the court has ruled against it, we are sure that, in the coming days, we will witness a mass exodus from the ruling party,” Abdullahi said. The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) also thanked the court, with its spokesman, Muhammed Ishaq, noting that the judgment “expands the scope for decision‑making within parties and removes the unhealthy regimentation of their activities.”
Former presidential candidate Dr Gbenga Hashim commended Justice Umar for what he called a “courageous and principled decision” that checked administrative overreach. “I have consistently argued that INEC must act within the confines of the Electoral Act. This judgment has now vindicated that position,” Hashim said. The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) also hailed the ruling, with its acting National Chairman, Peter Ameh, stating that key gains of the judgment include the exemption of substitution primaries from strict membership‑register deadlines and the affirmation that INEC cannot unilaterally shorten statutory windows for candidate submission.
For its part, INEC remained cautious. Wilfred Olisama, the commission’s Deputy Director of Voter Education and Publicity, told Daily Trust that the commission was yet to study the judgment in detail but maintained that the timelines had been meant to provide operational flexibility. He added that the commission was reviewing the order and might decide to appeal. Legal observers noted, however, that an appeal would face an uphill battle given the clarity of the statutory provisions cited by the court.
The practical consequences of the ruling are already beginning to ripple across the political landscape. With the 10 May deadline for membership registers now effectively removed, parties have until September 2026 to submit updated registers, according to sources familiar with the Certified True Copy of the judgment. More significantly, politicians who lost in the just‑concluded party primaries now have a window to defect to other parties, participate in fresh primaries, and still meet the Electoral Act’s deadlines for candidate substitution – something the compressed INEC timetable had made nearly impossible. That possibility has sparked predictions of a wave of cross‑carpeting, coalition realignments and fresh nomination battles in the coming months, fundamentally redrawing the 2027 race before it has even properly begun.
The court did not, however, nullify the actual election dates themselves. INEC’s fixed polling days – 16 January 2027 for the presidential and National Assembly elections, and 6 February 2027 for governorship and state assembly elections – remain unchanged. What the court struck down were the internal deadlines INEC had imposed on parties for primaries and candidate nomination processes. In that sense, the judgment is a procedural earthquake but not a constitutional crisis: the election will still happen on schedule, but the path that parties and candidates take to reach the ballot box has suddenly become much less predictable.
As political actors digest the implications of the ruling, one thing is already clear: the case filed by a little‑known youth party has permanently altered the balance of power between Nigeria’s electoral commission and its political parties. Justice Umar’s decision has restored to the statute book what the judge saw as the clear, un‑abridged wording of the Electoral Act, 2026. For the politicians who lost in the recent primaries, the ruling has opened a door that had been slammed shut. Whether they will walk through that door, and to what effect, is the next chapter in the long, unfinished story of Nigeria’s 2027 elections.
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