A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ruled that the Independent National Electoral Commission does not have the legal authority to prescribe the timetable within which political parties must conduct their primary elections ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Justice M. G. Umar of the Abuja Judicial Division delivered the judgement on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in a suit filed by the Youth Party against INEC. The case, marked Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2026, was filed on March 11, 2026.
The court declared that under Sections 29, 82 and 84(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026, INEC’s powers are limited to receiving notice of party primaries, obtaining the personal particulars of candidates, and attending and monitoring such primaries.
That mandate, the court held, “does not extend to fixing or prescribing the timetable within which political parties may conduct their primary elections for the purpose of nominating candidates for the 2027 general elections.
“Beyond the primary timetable question, the court issued a raft of additional declarations that significantly curtail INEC’s administrative reach over the pre-election process.
On candidate submission deadlines, the court held that since Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026 gives political parties up to 120 days before an election to submit the personal particulars of their candidates, INEC cannot lawfully compress that window by imposing an earlier deadline in its own timetable.
The same logic was applied to candidate withdrawal and substitution. The court declared that Section 31 of the Electoral Act, 2026 allows parties to withdraw and substitute candidates up to 90 days before an election, and that INEC’s timetable cannot override that statutory entitlement by setting an earlier cut-off.
The court further ruled that INEC lacks the power under Section 32 of the Electoral Act, 2026 to publish the final list of candidates before the statutory minimum of 60 days to an election has elapsed.
On campaigning, the court held that Section 98 of the same Act does not permit the commission to fix a date for campaigns to end two days before polling.
In what amounted to the operative relief, the court set aside and nullified the timeframes contained in INEC’s Revised Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2027 General Election as they related to party primaries, candidate submission, withdrawal and substitution, publication of the final candidates list, and campaigning. Those timeframes were declared inconsistent with the Electoral Act, 2026.
The court also declared that the membership register submission timeline prescribed by INEC under Section 33 of the Electoral Act, 2026 does not apply to primary elections conducted for the purpose of replacing withdrawn candidates.J. O. Olotu appeared as counsel for the Youth Party, while Sarafa Yusuf held brief for INEC.
The judgement order was signed by Justice Umar and certified by Registrar Mu’azu Kasimu on May 21, 2026.
