Election Guidelines: Supreme Court upheld INEC’s appeal

…dismisses SPD, Youth parties case

By Vivian Okejeme

The Supreme Court, Thursday, upheld the appeal filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) against the Court of Appeal judgment voiding part of the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026, in relation to political party primaries and membership registers.

The electoral body was before the Apex court against part of the Court of Appeal judgment which voided part of the Electoral Act, in a suit filed by Zenith Labour Party.

In its judgement, Thursday, the apex court upheld the judgment of the trial court and also awarded cost of N2million against the respondent (ZLP).

The judgement delivered by Justice Adamu Jauro held that Sections 77(5) and 84 of the Electoral Act are not in conflict with the 1999 Constitution.

Also, the court in two other judgement dismissed two seperate appeals, filed by
Social Democratic Party and Youth Party also filed seperate appeals against INEC.

SDP and YP were the appellants in that case. The two political parties filed appeals to challenge the decisions of the Court of Appeal in their case.

In SDP v INEC, the appeal was heard on its merit and was accordingly dismissed by the court.

In Youth Party’s appeal, the preliminary objection filed by INEC was upheld and the appeal was struck out for being incompetent.

The court described the appeal as invalid and incompetent having been filed out of time by one day.

The Federal High Court, Abuja Division, presided over by Justice Mohammed Umar, dismissed the party’s action in a judgment delivered on May 5, 2026.

Dissatisfied, the ZLP appealed to the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal in Appeal No. CA/ABJ/CV/750/2026.

The Court of Appeal, in its judgment delivered on July 16, 2026, allowed the appeal in part and voided provisions of the Electoral Act relating to party primaries and membership registers.

The appellate court’s decision prompted INEC to approach the Supreme Court, according to the commission’s brief of argument filed in the appeal.

The appeal, marked SC/CR/495/2026, arose from a suit filed by the Zenith Labour Party at the Federal High Court, Abuja, challenging provisions of the Electoral Act which the party contended were inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution.

A seven-man panel of the apex court, presided over by Justice Adamu Jauro, last week, reserved judgment after hearing arguments from the parties.

In its appeal, INEC’s urged the court to dismissed the appeal filed by YP and SDP.

The original suit, marked FHC/ABJ/509/2026, was filed by the ZLP against the disputed provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.

The provisions at the centre of the dispute include Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026.

Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) concern the statutory requirements relating to political parties’ membership registers, while Section 84(2) prescribes direct primaries or consensus as methods for the nomination of candidates by political parties.

The ZLP had argued at the trial court that the provisions conflicted with the 1999 Constitution and amounted to unconstitutional interference in the internal affairs of political parties.

The party’s case is anchored, among others, on Sections 221 and 222 of the Constitution, which provide for the constitutional framework governing political parties.

After the Federal High Court dismissed the suit, the ZLP appealed, leading to the Court of Appeal’s July 16 judgment.

INEC, dissatisfied with that judgment, subsequently lodged the present appeal before the Supreme Court.