Electoral Act: Supreme Court Upholds INEC Appeal, Dismisses SDP, YP Suits

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the appeal filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission and restored provisions of the 2026 Electoral Act dealing with political party membership registers and the nomination of candidates, overturning an earlier Court of Appeal decision in a case involving the Zenith Labour Party.

The seven-member panel, led by Justice Adamu Jauro, ruled that the disputed provisions of the Electoral Act were not inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution. The court also awarded N2 million in costs against the Zenith Labour Party.

The legal dispute began after the Zenith Labour Party challenged provisions of the Electoral Act at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The party argued that Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) interfered with the constitutional powers of political parties and conflicted with Sections 221 and 222 of the Constitution.

Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court dismissed the suit on May 5, 2026. The party subsequently appealed the decision before the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal.

On July 16, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in part and struck down the disputed provisions relating to party membership registers and candidate nomination. The decision led INEC to approach the Supreme Court, seeking the restoration of the provisions.

The provisions at the centre of the case set rules for how political parties manage membership registers and conduct candidate selection. Sections 77(5) to 77(7) deal with the membership register to be submitted to INEC and its use during party primaries, congresses and conventions.

Section 84(2), meanwhile, provides for direct primaries or consensus as methods for political parties to nominate candidates for elective positions.

With the Supreme Court’s ruling, those provisions have been restored after the Court of Appeal had earlier declared them invalid. The decision settles the ZLP-INEC dispute at the apex court level.

The Supreme Court also delivered separate decisions involving the Social Democratic Party and the Youth Party in their cases against INEC.

In the SDP case, the court considered the appeal on its merits but dismissed it. In the Youth Party matter, the court upheld INEC’s preliminary objection and struck out the appeal after finding that it had been filed one day outside the required time limit.

The Youth Party had earlier lost its case at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where Justice Mohammed Umar dismissed the suit in a judgment delivered on May 5, 2026.

The series of judgments comes as INEC and political parties prepare for the 2027 general elections, with the interpretation and application of the 2026 Electoral Act expected to affect how parties organise their membership records and select candidates for upcoming elections.