2027: INEC voids primaries held after May 30

Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has issued a stern warning to political parties: any primary elections conducted after the May 30 deadline will be considered invalid. This directive stands unless a higher court overturns a recent Federal High Court judgment that challenged the commission's timetable.

Mohammed Kudu Haruna, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, clarified that parties must continue to comply with the Electoral Act 2026. He stated that the commission is appealing a Federal High Court ruling which found that INEC's timetable breached certain provisions of the Act by shortening legally mandated timelines for candidate submissions.

“

Obviously, for now, 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.

The legal dispute stems from a Federal High Court judgment that nullified aspects of INEC's electoral guidelines for the 2027 general elections. The court held that INEC could not lawfully shorten the timelines provided under Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act 2026 for submitting party membership records and candidate particulars. The court found the electoral body acted outside its statutory powers.

INEC had initially set April 23 to May 30, 2026, as the window for parties to conduct primaries. Following the court ruling, the commission filed an appeal and sought a stay of execution. In a separate development, another Federal High Court judge affirmed INEC's constitutional power to issue and alter election timetables, creating a complex legal landscape ahead of the 2027 polls.

“

In other words, for now, the political parties are better advised to be guided by the existing Act.