Appeal Court Strikes Down Key Electoral Act Provisions

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has nullified key provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 relating to political parties’ primary elections and membership registers, ruling that they are inconsistent with the Nigerian Constitution.

The affected provisions are Sections 77(5), (6) and (7), as well as Section 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, which President Bola Tinubu signed into law in February.

The appellate court’s decision comes barely six months before the 2027 general elections.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on Thursday, a three-member panel led by Justice Balkisu Aliyu held that the disputed provisions conflict with Sections 221 and 222 of the 1999 Constitution, which grant political parties the constitutional authority to determine their membership and nominate candidates for elections.

The ruling was delivered in the appeal filed by the Zenith Party in the case marked CA/ABJ/CV/750/2026, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) listed as the respondent.

The Zenith Party had challenged the May 5 judgment of Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which dismissed its suit questioning the constitutionality of the disputed provisions.

The party argued that the affected sections of the Electoral Act unlawfully interfered with the internal affairs of political parties, including their constitutional powers to determine party membership and nominate candidates.

Under Section 77(5) of the Electoral Act, only party members whose names appear in the membership register submitted to INEC at least 21 days before party primaries, congresses or conventions are eligible to vote.

Section 77(6) further requires political parties to use only the membership register submitted to INEC during their primaries, congresses and conventions.

Section 77(7) provides that any political party that fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated period would be disqualified from fielding candidates in an election.

Meanwhile, Section 84(2) limits political parties to either direct primaries or consensus when selecting candidates for elective offices.

According to Punch, Justice Eberechi Nyesom-Wike, who delivered the lead judgment, declared Section 77(6) unconstitutional, holding that it gave INEC excessive control over the internal affairs of political parties.

The court also struck down Section 77(7), ruling that it could deny political parties their constitutional right to sponsor candidates simply because they failed to submit membership registers within the prescribed timeframe.

In addition, the appellate court invalidated Section 84(2), stating that restricting political parties to only direct primaries or consensus amounted to undue legislative interference in how political parties conduct their internal affairs and nominate candidates.

The court, however, clarified that its decision does not invalidate the entire Sections 77 and 84 of the Electoral Act.

Justice Nyesom-Wike explained that political parties are still required to submit their membership registers to INEC. The judgment only nullifies the provisions prescribing the mandatory timeline for such submissions.

The ruling came on the same day another panel of the Court of Appeal overturned a separate judgment by Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which had earlier invalidated INEC’s guidelines for the 2027 general elections.