The House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to audit candidates submitted by political parties for the 2027 general elections and disqualify those whose names do not appear in the membership registers earlier submitted by their parties to the Commission.
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The committee said the Supreme Court’s September 24, 2026 judgment restoring key provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 had removed the legal uncertainty previously surrounding the requirements governing party membership registers and participation in primaries.
In a letter dated September 30 and made public on Tuesday, the Chairman of the committee, Bayo Balogun, drew INEC’s attention to Section 77 of the Electoral Act, particularly the provisions dealing with party membership registers and eligibility to participate in political party primaries, congresses and conventions.
Balogun said the committee wanted INEC to enforce the provisions across all registered political parties now that the Supreme Court had pronounced on their validity.
The apex court had on September 24 unanimously allowed INEC’s appeal and restored Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, which the Court of Appeal had earlier declared unconstitutional. The Supreme Court held that the provisions were not inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution.
Section 77(5), according to the committee, provides that only persons whose names appear in the membership register submitted by a political party to INEC are eligible to vote or be voted for at the party’s primaries, congresses and conventions.
Section 77(6) requires political parties to use the membership register submitted to INEC in conducting such exercises, while Section 77(7) provides consequences where a political party fails to submit its membership register within the prescribed period.
Balogun recalled that INEC had previously expressed reservations about taking enforcement action while litigation challenging the interpretation, constitutionality and enforceability of the provisions remained unresolved.
According to the committee, that position was understandable at the time because the Commission sought to avoid taking administrative steps that could subsequently be affected by a final judicial determination.
Balogun, however, said the Supreme Court judgment had fundamentally altered the legal situation.
“The legal position has now materially changed,” he said, arguing that the apex court’s decision had settled the controversy surrounding the disputed provisions and cleared the way for their implementation.
The committee consequently asked INEC to proceed without further delay with enforcement of the relevant provisions of Section 77 in its regulation and monitoring of political parties and their electoral activities.
As part of that process, the committee wants INEC to audit the list of candidates already submitted by political parties for the 2027 general elections and compare their names with the membership registers the parties had previously lodged with the Commission.
The audit, Balogun said, should specifically establish whether each candidate submitted by a political party was listed as a member of that party in the register supplied to INEC in compliance with the Electoral Act.
“This will be a litmus test for the commission; any culpable political party and candidates should be disqualified,” Balogun said.
He argued that strict enforcement would not only ensure compliance with the Electoral Act but could also prevent disputes and reduce the volume of pre-election litigation arising from allegations that candidates did not satisfy statutory requirements governing party membership and nomination.
“Diligent enforcement of the provision would help prevent disputes and reduce the volume of litigation that could arise from alleged irregularities or non-compliance with Sections 77(4) to 77(6) of the Electoral Act,” he said.
The committee’s intervention comes as INEC itself begins studying the Certified True Copy of the Supreme Court judgment.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, had earlier on Tuesday disclosed that the Commission received the certified judgment that morning following representations from political parties, aspirants and the National Assembly over its implications for the 2027 electoral process.
Amupitan said the Commission was reviewing the judgment, meaning INEC has yet to publicly announce its final administrative position on how the restored provisions will affect particular candidates or nominations already submitted for the 2027 elections.
The Supreme Court case arose from a challenge by the Zenith Labour Party to provisions of the Electoral Act regulating party membership registers and candidate nomination.
After the Court of Appeal invalidated Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2), INEC appealed to the Supreme Court. A seven-member panel of the apex court subsequently allowed the Commission’s appeal and restored the provisions, holding that they were not inconsistent with the Constitution.
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