The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has formally challenged a Federal High Court ruling in Abuja that voided the commission’s timelines for political party primaries and candidate nomination ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC filed a notice of appeal alongside an application seeking a stay of execution of the judgement delivered by the lower court.
The disputed ruling was delivered last Wednesday by Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, who held that INEC does not have the authority to dictate timelines for party primaries.
The court ruled that provisions of the Electoral Act cited by INEC did not extend to regulating when political parties must conduct their internal nomination processes, Vanguard reported.
In the judgement, the court stated 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”. INEC cites multiple grounds for appeal In its appeal filed through counsel Alex Izinyon, INEC argued that the trial court failed to properly determine key jurisdictional issues raised in the suit, which it described as hypothetical and academic in nature.
The commission further maintained that Sections 29, 82, and 84 of the Electoral Act, 2026 were wrongly interpreted by the court in a narrow and restrictive manner, The Cable reported.
INEC also contended that the court misapplied legal provisions, including Section 151 of the Electoral Act, 2026, which it said ought to have been considered in determining the scope of its regulatory powers.
The legal battle comes amid ongoing preparations for the 2027 general elections, where INEC had earlier set deadlines for party registers, primaries, withdrawals and substitutions of candidates.
With the appeal now filed, the implementation of the contested judgement remains uncertain as parties await the next ruling from the appellate court.
