INEC to Review Court Judgment Nullifying 2027 Election Timetable

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will examine the recent court ruling that nullified parts of its timetable for the 2027 general election before deciding its next steps.

A Federal High Court in Abuja had ruled that INEC lacks the legal authority to set timelines for political parties to conduct primaries ahead of the 2027 elections.

Under INEC’s revised schedule, political parties were required to submit membership registers by May 10, conduct primaries, and complete candidate substitution processes before the end of May. However, the court held that the commission cannot shorten or alter timelines already provided under the Electoral Act 2026.

The case was filed by the Youth Party (YP), which argued that INEC’s responsibilities under sections 29, 82, and 84(1) of the Electoral Act only cover receiving notices of primaries and monitoring the process — not fixing dates for the conduct of party primaries.

Delivering judgment, Justice Mohammed Umar declared that INEC’s powers do not extend to prescribing schedules for political parties’ internal primary elections or reducing the statutory period for submitting candidate particulars.

Reacting to the judgment on Friday, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, said the commission had yet to officially receive the court ruling.

“We have not received the judgment and cannot comment fully on it yet. Although it is already in the public domain, we need to study the details carefully before deciding on the next step,” she said.