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The Supreme Court on Thursday has granted the appeal by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against a Court of Appeal judgment that voided parts of the Electoral Act 2026 on political party primaries and membership registers.
A seven-member panel led by Justice Adamu Jauro set aside the Court of Appeal’s decision, which had favoured the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and upheld the judgment of the trial court. The court held that Sections 77(5) and 84 of the Electoral Act do not conflict with the 1999 Constitution. It also awarded N2 million in costs against the ZLP.
INEC was represented by Dr Alex Izinyon, SAN. The panel reserved judgment last week after hearing arguments from the parties.
The landmark judgement has set in motion a spiral effect across the country on the 2027 elections.
Several candidates who had contested in other political parties and lost the ticket before defecting to another after the primaries would be affected by the judgement.
The Electoral Act 2026 mandated all political parties to submit the register of party members at least 21 days before the conduct of the primaries.
Although Section 84(2) prescribes direct primaries or consensus as the methods for nominating candidates, the apex court has ruled that it does not invalidate the provision on party register.
The supreme court judgement might have effectively overuled the validity of those tickets.
Several constitutional lawyers and political bookmakers have said majority of the candidates under the banner of National Rainbow coalition led my Minister Nyesom Wike would not be able to contest the 2027 elections because of the new landmark supreme court judgement.
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