A House of Representatives committee has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to check whether candidates put forward for the 2027 elections appeared in their parties’ membership registers. The request follows a Supreme Court ruling that restored provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 governing party registers and primaries.
Bayo Balogun, chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, made the request in a letter to INEC, according to TheCable. He wants the commission to audit candidates against the registers their parties submitted and enforce the law where it finds breaches. That is the committee’s position. INEC has not announced a fresh disqualification decision in response.
What the law requires
Under Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2026, parties must give INEC their membership registers at least 21 days before their primaries, congresses or conventions. Only members named in the submitted register may vote or seek nomination in those exercises. A party that fails to submit its register on time is not eligible to field a candidate for that election.
In September, the Supreme Court set aside an earlier appeal court decision that had struck down parts of Section 77 and a provision on how parties nominate candidates. The ruling restored those provisions, following an appeal by INEC in a case brought by the Zenith Labour Party.
A distinction that matters
The committee’s call to “disqualify” candidates needs careful treatment. In a published account of the Supreme Court judgment, the court distinguished between personally disqualifying an individual and preventing a non-compliant party from fielding candidates. The latter is the consequence the court identified when a party fails to submit its register within the required period.
The next step is INEC’s response. Until the commission explains how it will apply the ruling and the law to particular nominations, no candidate should be described as already removed from the 2027 election on the strength of the committee’s letter alone.
