The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in a legal dispute between the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, over provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 concerning political party primaries and membership registers.
A seven-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Adamu Jauro, reserved judgment on Wednesday after hearing arguments from both sides in the appeal.
The case, marked SC/CR/495/2026, followed a decision of the Court of Appeal which set aside some provisions of the Electoral Act relating to how political parties maintain membership registers and nominate candidates.
INEC, represented by Dr Alex Izinyon, SAN, is challenging the Court of Appeal judgment, while the ZLP is represented by Ikechukwu Anyalewechhi.
The dispute started at the Federal High Court in Abuja after the ZLP challenged sections of the Electoral Act 2026. The party argued that some of the provisions were inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution and interfered with the internal affairs of political parties.
The original case, marked FHC/ABJ/509/2026, was heard by Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division. The court dismissed the ZLP’s case in a judgment delivered on May 5, 2026.
Unhappy with the decision, the party proceeded to the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal through Appeal No. CA/ABJ/CV/750/2026.
The Court of Appeal later delivered its judgment on July 16, 2026, allowing part of the ZLP’s appeal. It voided certain provisions of the Electoral Act dealing with political party membership registers and the conduct of party primaries.
Following that decision, INEC approached the Supreme Court, asking the apex court to determine whether the Court of Appeal was right to invalidate the disputed sections of the law.
The provisions under contention include Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026.
Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) deal with requirements for political parties to keep and manage their membership registers. Section 84(2), on the other hand, provides for direct primaries or consensus as methods through which political parties can nominate candidates for elections.
The ZLP had maintained that these requirements conflict with constitutional provisions governing political parties, particularly Sections 221 and 222 of the 1999 Constitution.
After the Federal High Court rejected the party’s arguments, the matter moved to the Court of Appeal, which later overturned part of the lower court’s decision.
INEC subsequently filed the appeal now before the Supreme Court after disagreeing with the appellate court’s ruling.
The Supreme Court is expected to settle the dispute by determining whether the Court of Appeal was correct in voiding the affected sections of the Electoral Act or whether the requirements placed on political parties by the law should continue to apply.