The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has appealed against two Federal High Court judgments on Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2027 General Election.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan SAN, revealed this at the Commission’s Second Quarterly Consultative Meeting with leaders of political parties held in Abuja, adding that the Commission had assessed the two judgments and decided to obtain authoritative pronouncements from the appellate courts.
The two judgements were those of theYouth Party versus INEC and Social Democratic Party (SDP) versus INEC delivered on May 20, 2026, in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2026 which questioned certain timelines contained in the Commission’s timetable: while the second one second, delivered on May 26, 2026, in Suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/720/2026 produced a mixed outcome: it affirmed the Commission’s authority to issue an electoral timetable but simultaneously nullified certain timelines relating to the nomination and substitution of candidates.
According to the commission, in the SDP judgment, the court itself acknowledged that “an election timetable, without date for submission of parties’ membership register, timeframe for primaries, etc. is inchoate. Without this timetable, there would be chaos in our electoral system.
“While the Commission remains fully respectful of the decisions of the Courts and of the judicial process generally, these judgments raise important legal questions concerning the extent of the Commission’s constitutional and statutory powers in coordinating and regulating electoral activities.”
He said the activities contained in the timetable are interrelated operational processes that cannot be arbitrarily isolated or removed without throwing the entire electoral calendar into disarray.
The Chairman said the activities include the submission and verification of party membership registers; monitoring of party primaries across the federation; pre-upload of primary results on the Commission’s designated portal; the nomination process; printing of ballot papers and result sheets; quality assurance procedures; deployment of election materials; training of election personnel; voter education and sensitisation; procurement of sensitive materials; configuration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines; and compliance with statutory obligations such as inviting political parties to inspect samples of electoral materials pursuant to Section 42 of the Electoral Act, 2026.
He said “the Commission therefore considers it imperative that all electoral activities be harmonised within a coherent and workable framework that promotes certainty, transparency, administrative efficiency and equal treatment of all political parties.”
Prof. Amupitan said the commission would on Friday, June 26, 2026, issue official access codes to all political parties for the purpose of accessing the Candidate Nomination Portal, enabling designated national officers to upload the names, personal particulars, and other required information relating to nominated candidates.
