The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned political parties that any primary election conducted after its May 30 deadline remains invalid unless a higher court overturns a Federal High Court judgment related to the matter.
Mohammed Kudu Haruna, INEC national commissioner and chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, said political parties must continue to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 pending the outcome of the commission’s appeal before the Court of Appeal.
“Any primary held outside INEC’s May 30 deadline will be invalid unless the Court of Appeal overturns the Federal High Court judgment in INEC’s appeal against the ruling that the timetable breached the Electoral Act 2026 in some of its provisions,” Haruna said in an interview with The PUNCH.
He advised political parties to remain guided by the existing Electoral Act until the appellate court delivers its judgment.
The warning comes amid an ongoing legal dispute over INEC’s timetable for party primaries and candidate nominations ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general election.
A Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Mohammed Umar, recently nullified aspects of INEC’s electoral guidelines and timetable for the 2027 elections. In the suit filed by the Youth Party, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2026, the court ruled that INEC could not lawfully shorten timelines stipulated under Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act 2026 for the submission of party membership records and candidates’ particulars.
The court held that INEC acted outside its statutory powers by abridging timelines already provided under the law.
INEC subsequently appealed the ruling and sought a stay of execution, maintaining that its timetable was issued in accordance with its constitutional and statutory responsibilities.
Before the court judgment, INEC had fixed April 23 to May 30, 2026, as the period for political parties to conduct their primaries for the 2027 elections.
In a separate ruling delivered less than 24 hours after INEC filed its appeal, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja affirmed the commission’s constitutional authority to issue and revise election timetables.
The ruling, delivered in a suit filed by the Social Democratic Party and marked FHC/ABJ/CS/720/2026, stated that while INEC has the power to set election schedules, it must exercise that authority within the timelines prescribed by the Electoral Act 2026.
Meanwhile, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) primary election appeals committee in Kaduna State has ordered rerun primaries in several federal and state constituencies following petitions alleging irregularities during the party’s recently concluded primaries.
Committee Chairman Dr. Muhammed Fagge said the panel reviewed petitions, documentary evidence and submissions from aggrieved aspirants before reaching its decisions.
According to him, the committee discovered irregularities and fraudulent practices in some of the primaries, leading to the declaration of several contests as inconclusive.
The committee ordered a fresh primary in the Ikara/Kubau Federal Constituency after determining that a screened aspirant, Ibrahim Kubau, was omitted from the ballot. It also directed a rerun in the Kaduna South Federal Constituency after finding insufficient evidence that voting took place across all wards.
Fagge said reruns would be conducted in affected constituencies and wards across Kaura, Soba, Ikara, Kajuru, Badarawa/Malali, Magajin Gari II, Birnin Gwari, Tudun Wada West, Igabi, Kagarko, Kawo, Zaria, Chikun/Kajuru and Kudan/Makarfi, among others.
The committee also ruled that any attempt to adopt a consensus or affirmation process in the Kaduna North Senatorial District primary would be invalid unless all parties involved consented.
Fagge said the decisions were intended to protect the credibility and integrity of the party’s nomination process and ensure that no aspirant was denied a fair opportunity because of procedural lapses or electoral irregularities.
Haruna reiterated that, pending the outcome of INEC’s appeal, political parties risk having any primary election conducted after the May 30 deadline declared invalid.
