By Olusegun Samuel Precious
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has nullified key provisions of the Electoral Act regulating political party membership registers and candidate nomination processes, declaring them unconstitutional and an illegal intrusion into the internal affairs of political parties.
A unanimous judgment delivered on Thursday by a three-member panel led by Justice Balkisu Aliyu set aside an earlier ruling of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which had dismissed a suit filed by the Zenith Party.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Eberechi Nyesom-Wike declared Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7), and 84(2) of the Electoral Act unconstitutional, null, and void.
The appellate court held that the National Assembly overreached its legislative powers by introducing statutory conditions that conflict with rights guaranteed to political parties under Sections 221 and 222 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Justice Nyesom-Wike ruled that where the Constitution already outlines qualifications and disqualifications for elective office, the Electoral Act cannot impose secondary restrictions that limit qualified citizens or dictate how parties manage their internal administration.
Among the invalidated clauses is Section 77(5), which restricted voting and candidacy in primaries strictly to names appearing in the membership register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The court also struck down Section 77(6)—which barred parties from updating registers past INEC submission deadlines—and Section 77(7), which disqualified non-compliant parties from fielding candidates altogether.
Furthermore, the court declared Section 84(2) unconstitutional for attempting to restrict political parties to specific nomination methods, holding that parties retain the constitutional discretion to choose their preferred selection mode in line with their internal constitutions.
The court clarified, however, that the general statutory requirements for political parties to maintain membership registers and make them available to INEC remain valid, as only the specific, restrictive subsections were excised from the law.
