Court strips INEC of powers to set deadline for primaries and replacement of candidates – THIS UPDATE

The Federal High Court in Abuja has struck down key provisions of the revised calendar and program of activities for the polls of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The ruling, delivered by Justice Mohammed Umar, annulled the timescales imposed by INEC on political parties for the conduct of primaries, submission of candidates’ details, withdrawal and replacement of candidates, publication of the final list of candidates and electoral activities, declaring them incompatible with the provisions of the Electoral Law, 2026.

The ruling is widely interpreted as a major lifeline for politicians who lost in the ongoing party primaries, as it opens up a new legal path for aggrieved aspirants to defect to other political parties and continue their political ambitions.

A certified true copy (CTC) of the judgment showed that the case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2016, was brought by the Youth Party against INEC.

The appellant, through his lawyer, JO Olotu, had urged the court to determine whether INEC possessed the statutory authority to prescribe restrictive deadlines outside the provisions already contained in the Electoral Act 2026.

The party argued that under sections 29, 82 and 84 (1) of the Electoral Law, INEC’s responsibilities are limited to receiving notices of party primaries, monitoring exercises and receiving details of nominated candidates, but do not extend to imposing restrictive deadlines on political parties.

Delivering his ruling after hearing arguments from both parties, Justice Umar held that Section 29(1) of the Election Law clearly states that political parties are required to submit details of their candidates only no later than 120 days before elections.

According to the Court, INEC cannot legitimately shorten or reduce this statutory period by prescribing shorter deadlines in its electoral calendar.

The court also cited section 31 of the Electoral Law, which allows political parties to withdraw and replace candidates no later than 90 days before elections, ruling that INEC had no authority to impose early deadlines for replacing candidates.

Justice Umar further held that by virtue of section 32 of the Electoral Act, INEC does not possess the power to publish the final list of candidates before the minimum period of 60 days prescribed by law.

The court also ruled that INEC did not have the statutory authority under section 98 of the Electoral Act to fix the conclusion of the campaign two days before the elections.

“A declaration is made that, on the correct interpretation of section 98 of the Electoral Act, 2026, the defendant does not possess the statutory authority to fix in its calendar for the 2027 general election the end of the campaign 2 days before the election,” the court found.

Justice Umar subsequently set aside all deadlines in INEC’s revised calendar that were inconsistent with the electoral law, including deadlines relating to primaries, submission of details of candidates, withdrawal and replacement of candidates, publication of final list of candidates and campaign activities.

The Court also ruled that the deadline prescribed by INEC for the submission of member lists for party primaries does not apply to primaries held for the replacement of withdrawn candidates.

Under the now canceled timetable, all 18 registered political parties were required to submit their registers to INEC by May 10 and conclude primaries, withdrawals and replacement of candidates by the end of May.

Although most political parties have already complied with the directive and started primaries, the exercises (especially within the ruling All Progressives Congress) have triggered protests in several states over allegations of candidate imposition, manipulation of delegate lists and forced withdrawals from contests.

Political observers say the ruling could significantly alter the dynamics of the 2027 elections by triggering new negotiations, defections and coalition talks between dissatisfied aspirants across party lines.

INEC, led by President Joash Amupitan, had not yet officially responded to the ruling at the time of filing this report.