The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in an appeal filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) challenging a Court of Appeal decision that nullified parts of the Electoral Act 2026.
A seven-member panel led by Justice Adamu Jauro reserved judgment on Wednesday after hearing arguments from parties in the case, marked SC/CR/495/2026.
The dispute centres on Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act, which deal with political party membership registers and methods of selecting candidates.
Under the law, only party members whose names appear on the membership register submitted to INEC within the prescribed period are eligible to participate in primaries, congresses and conventions. The provisions also place restrictions on the use of alternative membership registers and address the consequences for parties that fail to submit their registers on time.
The case originated from a suit filed by the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The party argued that the disputed provisions were “inconsistent with Sections 221 and 222 of the 1999 Constitution” and amounted to interference in the internal affairs of political parties.
Justice Mohammed Garba Umar dismissed the suit on May 5, 2026, prompting ZLP to appeal to the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal.
However, in its July 16, 2026 judgment, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in part and declared the disputed provisions unconstitutional. The decision led INEC to approach the Supreme Court for redress.
INEC is represented by Dr Alex Izinyon, SAN, while ZLP is represented by Ikechukwu Anyalewechhi.
The Supreme Court is now expected to determine whether the Court of Appeal was right to invalidate the provisions or whether the requirements contained in the Electoral Act 2026 should remain in force.
