The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned that political parties may lose the right to field candidates in the 2027 elections where such candidates were not listed in the membership registers submitted to the commission.
The electoral umpire’s position is hinged on the Supreme Court’s recent affirmation of the register requirement. It’s the commission’s first official reaction to judgment.
Identities of the affected individuals and their parties will be known on Saturday, August 10, set by INEC to officially publish the lists of candidates cleared for the governorship and state assembly elections.
The warning could have far-reaching implications for the 2027 elections, coming barely two weeks after the Supreme Court, in its September 24, 2026 judgment, upheld the constitutionality of Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act 2026.
The apex court also affirmed INEC’s revised timetable and schedule of activities for the elections.
INEC National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed the commission’s position on Wednesday night while appearing on Trust TV’s Daily Politics, saying candidates whose names were absent from their parties’ submitted registers could be disqualified.
Haruna further said affected candidates might not be replaced by their parties, arguing that allowing substitutions would enable parties to benefit from breaches of the law.
“It’s like you committed an offence. And then, you come and benefit from it,” he said, citing previous cases involving Zamfara and Plateau states.
According to him, “the law was very clear” that parties could not benefit from violations by subsequently substituting candidates whose emergence resulted from the breach.
Haruna said the commission was still examining the Supreme Court judgment and was expected to make a definitive pronouncement on its implications by Tuesday next week.
Depending on the outcome of the review, he said, some parties could be barred from fielding candidates for certain elective positions.
“All the candidates, all the way to the Houses of Assembly, we interviewed them. If their names are not on the party register, they were not members of the party at the time that they contested for those tickets,” he said.
The development follows INEC’s broader effort to enforce stricter compliance with the Electoral Act 2026, including the submission and verification of party membership registers ahead of the 2027 polls.
Haruna explained that INEC delayed its final position because it first had to obtain the Certified True Copy of the Supreme Court judgment and secure legal advice on its implications.
He said the commission was exercising caution because forged court judgments had been presented in previous cases.
“You can’t be too careful with these things because even when you see copies and they tell you it’s a CTC, it may be forged,” Haruna said, adding that INEC had only received the certified copy on Tuesday.
The commission’s position places renewed focus on the membership registers submitted by political parties and the status of candidates who emerged from primaries despite not being captured in those registers, as parties intensify preparations for the 2027 elections.
