By Samuel Olusegun Precious
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has warned that political parties that nominated candidates whose names are not in the membership registers submitted to the commission risk being barred from the 2027 general elections.
INEC National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Mohammed Haruna, issued the warning on Wednesday while appearing on Trust TV’s Daily Politics. The warning follows the Supreme Court judgment of September 24, 2026 which restored Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 after the Court of Appeal had declared them unconstitutional.
Haruna said parties cannot commit a violation and then benefit by simply substituting the affected candidate.
“Once you do that kind of thing, you cannot benefit from it,” he said.
According to him, INEC scrutinised all candidates, from presidency to Houses of Assembly.
“All the candidates, all the way to the Houses of Assembly, we interviewed them. Where a candidate’s name was not contained in the relevant party register, the person was not a member of that party at the time he or she contested the party’s ticket.”
He warned some parties could even be unable to field governorship candidates depending on legal interpretation of the judgment. What The Law SaysSection 77(5) provides that only members whose names appear in a party’s register submitted to INEC at least 21 days before primary, congress or convention are eligible to participate. Section 77(6) mandates parties to use the register submitted to INEC for primaries, while Section 77(7) says a party that fails to submit its register cannot field a candidate.
All 22 registered parties submitted registers within the extended May deadline. INEC says the registers will be verified.
Haruna said the commission is awaiting legal advice after obtaining the Certified True Copy of the judgment, noting there have been cases of forged Supreme Court judgments.
“You can’t be too careful with these things,” he said.
A definitive pronouncement is expected by Tuesday next week. He also condemned rising threats in political campaigns.
The House Committee on Electoral Matters had earlier urged INEC to audit candidates and disqualify those not found in party registers.
With the restoration of the provisions, 2027 may enter a new legal phase where membership records, not just primaries, will determine who appears on the ballot.
