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The court of appeal in Abuja has dismissed the judgment that nullified the timelines issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of party primaries and the nomination of candidates.
In an unanimous decision delivered on Thursday, the appellate court affirmed the guidelines issued by INEC for the 2027 elections.
In the lead judgment prepared by Adebukola Banjoko but read by Okon Abang, the court of appeal ruled that the Youth Party (YP) that instituted the case against INEC lacked the legal power to do so.
The court held that the YP did not tell the court how INEC guidelines affected the party in the conduct of primary elections for the 2027 election.
The appellate court ruled that INEC acted within its legal powers to issue the election timetable and the lower court “wrongly granted” the reliefs sought by the applicant.
The court held that YP can only invoke the powers of the court if there are threats to its rights to participate in the 2027 elections.
BACKGROUND
In May, a federal high court in Abuja nullified the timelines issued by INEC for the conduct of party primaries and the nomination of candidates.
Mohammed Umar, the presiding judge, held that INEC cannot “fix or prescribe the timetable within which political parties may conduct their primary elections for the purpose of nominating candidates for the 2027 general elections”.
Umar ruled that the powers granted to INEC under sections 29, 82 and 84(1) of the Electoral Act do not extend to determining timelines for party primaries.
The judgment was delivered in a suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2016, filed on March 11 by the YP, with INEC listed as the sole defendant.
