Appeal Court voids key Electoral Act provisions on parties' primary election, membership register

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday struck down some key provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 touching on political parties’ primary elections and membership registers.

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The affected parts of the amended Electoral Act 2026, signed into law by President Bola Tinubu in February, are sections 77(5), (6) and (7) and 84(2).

The Court of Appeal’s intervention comes just six months before the 2027 general elections.

Vanguard newspaper reported that a three-member bench led by Balkisu Aliyu gave the unanimous decision on Thursday, holding that the disputed sections of the Electoral Act conflicted with sections 221 and 222 of the Nigerian constitution.

According to the court, the Electoral Act provisions conflicted with sections of the constitution that grant political parties the right to decide whom to nominate for elections.

It reached this decision in an appeal brought by Zenith Party in the case marked CA/ABJ/CV/750/2026.

Nigeria’s election umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is the respondent in the appeal.

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The Zenith Party filed the appeal to challenge the 5 May decision of Judge Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissing its suit challenging the constitutionality of the disputed provisions.

The party argued that the contested Electoral Act provisions unlawfully interfered with the internal administration of political parties.

It added that the provisions also curtailed political parties’ constitutional power to determine membership and nominate candidates.

The controversial sections

Section 77(5) of the Electoral Act contested by Zenith Party stipulates that only persons whose names are contained in the register submitted to INEC not later than 21 days before the date set for primaries, congresses or conventions would be eligible to vote.

Sub-section (6) of section 77 provides that a political party shall not use any register other than the one submitted to INEC for party primaries, congresses, and conventions.

Also sub-section (7) provides that a political party that fails to submit the membership register within the stipulated time shall not be eligible to field a candidate for the election.

Section 84(2) limits the means by which political parties can choose candidates for elections. It provides that the procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for the various elective positions shall be by direct primaries or consensus.

What Court of Appeal said

Punch newspaper reports that Justice Eberechi Nyesom-Wike, who delivered the lead decision of the Court of Appeal panel, struck down section 77(6) for vesting excessive control over political parties’ internal affairs in INEC.

The court also nullified section 77(7) because it could deprive political parties of their constitutional right to sponsor candidates for elective offices. This section bars political parties from participating in an election if they fail to submit their membership registers to INEC within the prescribed period. The court said the provision would interfere with the parties’ ability to control candidate nomination effectively.

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The court also declared section 84(2) unconstitutional, voiding it for limiting political parties to direct primaries or consensus as the only means of nominating election candidates. The court ruled that the provision amounted to undue legislative interference in the internal affairs of the political parties.

Clarifications

Justice Nyesom-Wike clarified that only the specific subsections of sections 77 and 84 of the Electoral Act are affected by the judgement, not the entire sections.

She added that the provision making it mandatory for parties to submit their membership register to INEC still stands. What was struck down is the proviso that prescribes the timeframe for submitting the registers.

The judgement came on a day a separate panel of the Court of Appeal in Abuja overturned another decision by Justice Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which had invalidated INEC’s guidelines for the 2027 elections.