Supreme Court to Decide on INEC's Appeal About Electoral Act Changes

The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments and then postponed its decision on important parts of the Electoral Act 2026 that deal with political party primaries and membership lists.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja had removed these sections, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is now challenging that decision in the Supreme Court.

A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Judge Adamu Jauro, reserved judgment after listening to arguments from INEC and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), which started the case at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Judge Jauro stated that the “date for judgment would be communicated to the parties.”

At the hearing, INEC was represented by Alex Izinyon, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). ZLP had Ikechukwu Anyalewechhi as their lawyer.

The issue revolves around Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7), and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 202, which ZLP claims interfere with the rights of political parties.

The first three sections talk about how political parties manage their membership lists. Section 84(2) states that parties must choose their candidates through direct primaries or consensus.

Section 77(5) of the Electoral Act that ZLP is contesting says that only people on the membership list submitted to INEC at least 21 days before primaries, congresses, or conventions can vote.

Section 77(6) says a political party cannot use any list other than the one submitted to INEC for primaries, congresses, and conventions.

Section 77(7) states that if a party does not submit its membership list on time, it cannot put forward a candidate for the election.

Section 84(2) restricts how parties can choose candidates for elections. It says parties must use direct primaries or consensus for nominations.

ZLP argued at the Federal High Court that these rules go against the Nigerian constitution and interfere with how political parties operate.

The party also said that the Electoral Act should not impose rules that affect the powers given to political parties under Sections 221 and 222 of the constitution.

On May 5, Judge Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed the case.

Unhappy with the ruling, ZLP appealed to the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal to reverse the decision.

On July 16, the Court of Appeal partially accepted the appeal and canceled Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7), and 84(2).

The appellate court found that these sections did not align with the Nigerian constitution, especially regarding political parties and their role in supporting candidates.

However, the judgment did not eliminate the need for political parties to keep membership lists and send them to INEC.

Instead, it removed specific legal limits on how these lists can be used and submitted, along with the penalties for not following the rules.

The court also rejected the rule in Section 84(2) that parties must nominate candidates through direct primaries or consensus.

After this, INEC took the matter to the Supreme Court, challenging the Court of Appeal’s decision.

INEC has asked the Supreme Court to reverse the Court of Appeal’s ruling.

It wants the four sections to be reinstated, which means the rules about political party membership lists and candidate nominations would still apply.

If these rules are restored, parties must follow the guidelines for their membership lists used for primaries, congresses, and conventions, including the deadlines for submitting these lists.

A party that does not meet the requirement in Section 77(7) would also face the penalty of not being able to present a candidate.

INEC wants the court to bring back Section 84(2), which requires parties to nominate candidates through direct primaries or consensus.

ZLP is against the appeal and wants the Court of Appeal’s ruling to stay in effect.