The Court of Appeal in Abuja has given a judgment that voided some provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.
The court ruled that legislative attempts to tightly regulate political party membership registers and candidate nomination procedures are unconstitutional.
A three-member panel of the appellate court, led by Justice Balkisu Aliyu, unanimously allowed an appeal filed by the Zenith Party.
The verdict directly set aside an earlier ruling by Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, which had dismissed the political party’s initial lawsuit challenging the Act
The provisions in the Electoral Act 2026 voided by the court are sections 77(5), (6) and (7) and 84(2).
The three-member bench of the Appeal Court voided the provisions, holding that the disputed sections of the Electoral Act 2026 conflicted with sections 221 and 222 of the Nigerian Constitution.
According to the court, the Electoral Act provisions conflicted with sections of the constitution that grant political parties the right to decide whom to nominate for elections.
The controversial sections
Section 77(5) of the Electoral Act contested by Zenith Party stipulates that only persons whose names are contained in the register submitted to INEC not later than 21 days before the date set for primaries, congresses or conventions would be eligible to vote.
Sub-section (6) of section 77 provides that a political party shall not use any register other than the one submitted to INEC for party primaries, congresses, and conventions.
Also, sub-section (7) provides that a political party that fails to submit the membership register within the stipulated time shall not be eligible to field a candidate for the election.
Section 84(2) limits the means by which political parties can choose candidates for elections. It provides that the procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for the various elective positions shall be by direct primaries or consensus.
The Ruling of the Court of Appeal
Justice Eberechi Nyesom-Wike, who delivered the lead decision of the Court of Appeal panel, struck down section 77(6) for vesting excessive control over political parties’ internal affairs in INEC.
The court also nullified section 77(7) because it could deprive political parties of their constitutional right to sponsor candidates for elective offices. This section bars political parties from participating in an election if they fail to submit their membership registers to INEC within the prescribed period. The court said the provision would interfere with the parties’ ability to control candidate nomination effectively.
The court also declared section 84(2) unconstitutional, voiding it for limiting political parties to direct primaries or consensus as the only means of nominating election candidates. The court ruled that the provision amounted to undue legislative interference in the internal affairs of the political parties.
Justice Nyesom-Wike clarified that only the specific subsections of sections 77 and 84 of the Electoral Act are affected by the judgement, not the entire sections.
She added that the provision making it mandatory for parties to submit their membership register to INEC still stands. What was struck down is the proviso that prescribes the timeframe for submitting the registers.
By invalidating this clause, the court re-established that candidate selection is strictly an internal domestic affair.
With this ruling, political parties have successfully reclaimed full sovereignty over their internal operations just six months before the 2027 election cycle kicks off. Moving forward, INEC loses the legal backing to invalidate any primary election or candidate nomination based on the strict register and procedural frameworks that have now been struck down.
The judgement came on a day a separate panel of the Court of Appeal in Abuja overturned another decision by Justice Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which had invalidated INEC’s guidelines for the 2027 elections.
