2027: Parties’ Primaries Held After May 30 Invalid, Says INEC

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cautioned political parties that any primary election held outside its May 30 deadline remains invalid, unless a higher court overturns an earlier Federal High Court judgment on the matter.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, told the Punch that political parties must continue to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026, pending the determination of the Commission’s appeal before the Court of Appeal.
According to Haruna: “Obviously, for now, any primary held outside INEC’s May 30 deadline will be invalid, unless the Court of Appeal overturns the Federal High Court judgment in INEC’s appeal against the ruling that the timetable breached the Electoral Act 2026 in some of its provisions.
“In other words, for now, the political parties are better advised to be guided by the existing Act.”
Recall that Justice Mohammed Umar of a Federal High Court in Abuja, had in a judgment nullified aspects of INEC’s electoral guidelines and schedule for the conduct of next year’s general elections, in a suit filed by the Youth Party (YP) against INEC, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2026, holding that the Commission could not lawfully shorten the timelines provided under Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, for the submission of party membership records and candidates’ particulars.
The court also held that INEC could not abridge timelines already provided under the Electoral Act 2026, saying it acted outside its statutory powers under the Act .
INEC has already appealled the judgment, seeking a stay of its execution, insisting its timetable was issued in line with its constitutional and statutory responsibilities in the electoral process.
The electoral body had stipulated April 23 to May 30, 2026, as the window for political parties to conduct their primaries ahead of the elections and also directed them to comply with other timelines contained in its revised election schedule.
Curiously, less than 24 hours after INEC’s, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja affirmed its powers to issue and alter election timetables for the conduct of elections.
Justice Omotosho, in his judgment in a suit filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP), in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/720/2026, held that INEC was constitutionally empowered to issue election timetables and schedules of activities for elections.
He, however, held that while the Commission possesses such powers, it must exercise them strictly within the timelines prescribed by the Electoral Act, 2026.