Court of Appeal Cancels Key Rules in Electoral Act on Party Elections and Membership

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday cancelled some important rules in the Electoral Act 2026 concerning political parties’ primary elections and membership lists.

The parts of the Electoral Act 2026 that were affected are sections 77(5), (6) and (7) and 84(2). This Act was signed into law by President Bola Tinubu in February.

The Court of Appeal made this decision just six months before the 2027 general elections.

According to Vanguard newspaper, a three-member panel led by Balkisu Aliyu agreed on this decision on Thursday. They said the sections in question clashed with sections 221 and 222 of the Nigerian constitution.

The court explained that the rules in the Electoral Act did not align with constitutional sections that give political parties the freedom to choose who to nominate for elections.

The court made this ruling after hearing an appeal from Zenith Party in the case marked CA/ABJ/CV/750/2026. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the respondent in this appeal.

This judgment followed an appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/750/2026, which the Zenith Party filed against INEC. They challenged the decision made by Judge Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja on May 5. That decision had dismissed their case about the legality of the disputed rules.

Zenith Party argued that the rules from the Electoral Act wrongly interfered with how political parties run their affairs. They claimed that these rules also restricted political parties' rights to decide on membership and nominate candidates.

The Controversial Rules

Section 77(5) of the Electoral Act, which the Zenith Party contested, says that only people whose names are on the register sent to INEC not less than 21 days before the primaries will be able to vote.

Sub-section (6) of section 77 states that a political party cannot use any register other than the one sent to INEC for primaries, congresses, and conventions.

Sub-section (7) says that any political party that does not submit its membership register on time will not be allowed to put forward a candidate for the election.

Section 84(2) restricts how political parties can choose their candidates for elections. It says that parties must use direct primaries or consensus to nominate candidates for different positions.

What the Court of Appeal Said

Punch newspaper reports that Justice Eberechi Nyesom-Wike, who spoke for the Court of Appeal panel, struck down section 77(6) because it gave too much control over political parties’ internal issues to INEC.

The court also cancelled section 77(7) because it could stop political parties from exercising their constitutional right to nominate candidates for elections. This section would prevent parties from participating in elections if they did not submit their membership lists to INEC in the right time. The court said this rule would interfere with how parties manage their candidate nominations.

Additionally, the court ruled section 84(2) unconstitutional. It voided this section because it only allowed political parties to use direct primaries or consensus to choose election candidates. The court said this was too much government control over the internal workings of political parties.

Clarifications

Justice Nyesom-Wike clarified that only the specific subsections of sections 77 and 84 of the Electoral Act were affected by the ruling, not the entire sections.

She also noted that the requirement for parties to submit their membership register to INEC remains. What was cancelled is the rule that set a deadline for submitting these registers.