The Supreme Court has restored key provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 governing political party membership registers and candidate nomination, setting aside the July 16 judgment of the Court of Appeal that had declared the provisions unconstitutional.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on September 24, 2026, a seven-member panel of the apex court upheld an appeal by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and reinstated Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act.
The court held that the disputed provisions were not inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and restored the earlier decision of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which had dismissed the constitutional challenge brought by the Zenith Labour Party.
Under Section 77(5), only members whose names appear on a political party’s membership register submitted to INEC at least 21 days before a primary, congress or convention can participate in the exercise.
Section 77(6) requires political parties to use the same register submitted to INEC, while Section 77(7) provides consequences for a party that fails to submit its register within the stipulated period.
Legal experts say the ruling strengthens the statutory framework governing party primaries and candidate nominations, while also providing a basis for aspirants to challenge alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former Second National Vice-President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dr Monday Onyekachi Ubani, SAN, said the judgment had affirmed the National Assembly’s framework and strengthened the legal basis for INEC’s guidelines on party membership registers.
Ubani said the ruling means that a prospective aspirant or voter must be captured in the relevant party register submitted to INEC within the prescribed period.
He, however, stressed that the judgment does not automatically empower INEC to remove candidates already published for elections.
According to him, INEC cannot unilaterally cancel a candidate’s nomination based solely on an alleged failure to comply with the membership-register provisions, as such disputes must be properly brought before a competent court by a person with the legal standing to challenge the nomination.
The Supreme Court itself also distinguished between the eligibility of a political party to field candidates and the personal qualification or disqualification of an individual candidate. The apex court held that Section 77(7) is directed at the party’s eligibility to field candidates and does not, by itself, constitute an automatic personal disqualification of every member.
Ubani further explained that political parties cannot substitute a different membership register for the one earlier submitted to INEC, saying any alleged breach could provide grounds for a legal challenge.
He noted that the current provisions represent a significant change from the previous electoral framework, which did not impose comparable consequences for failure to submit party membership registers within the stipulated period.
On late defections, Ubani said the ruling could make it more difficult for politicians to join a party shortly before its primary and seek to participate in the nomination process, since eligibility to participate is tied to the membership register submitted to INEC 21 days before the exercise.
He clarified that the responsibility for compiling and maintaining party membership records rests with the political parties, rather than INEC.
Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Kabiru Akingbolu, also said the judgment could constrain attempts by politicians to move between parties at the last minute and seek nomination after a primary has already been conducted.
Akingbolu, however, noted that the immediate impact on the 2026 electoral cycle and the 2027 general elections could be limited in some cases because statutory time limits for filing pre-election matters may already have expired, while several party primaries have been concluded.
The Supreme Court’s ruling has therefore restored the legal force of the disputed provisions and placed greater emphasis on compliance with membership-register and nomination requirements as political parties prepare for the 2027 general elections.
