……. Political parties now have till September to submit lists
…….. Court compels INEC to comply with 120 days pre-election deadline inline with Electoral Act 2026
By Yahaya Umar, Abuja
Sequel to a suit filed by the Youth Party, the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, yesterday, invalidated the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, guidelines which had earlier mandated political parties to submit a register and database of all members May 10 to be eligible to contest for the 2027 general elections.
Judgment delivered by Justice M.G. Umar then compelled the INEC to follow the 120 days pre-election deadline prescribed by the Electoral Act 2026 for the submission of party registers.
The judgment thus: “A Declaration is made that having regards to Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026 which requires political parties to submit the personal particulars of their candidates not later than 120 days to an election, the Defendant cannot lawfully abridge or limit that statutory period by prescribing a shorter time frame in its 2027 elections”.
In this vein, the judgment added that all registered parties, have until September to submit an updated list of all party members, nullifying the initial May 10 deadline.
AljazirahNigeria reports that the timetable earlier released by INEC indicated that presidential and national assembly elections have been scheduled for January 16, 2027 while governorship and state Houses of Assembly polls are set to hold on February 6, next year.
