S’Court Judgment: Parties Cannot Field Unregistered Candidates, Says INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) has warned political parties that they cannot field candidates whose names do not appear on the membership registers submitted to the commission for the 2027 elections.

The commission said parties that violate the requirement will not be allowed to participate in the affected elections. It also ruled out allowing such parties to substitute the candidates after breaching the law.

INEC National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Malam Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this on Wednesday during Trust TV’s Daily Politics programme.

Haruna’s position followed the September 24, 2026 judgment of the Supreme Court, which affirmed the constitutionality of Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act 2026.

The apex court also upheld INEC’s revised timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 elections.

According to Haruna, allowing parties to replace candidates who were not on their submitted registers would amount to rewarding them for violating the law.

“It’s like you committed an offence. And then, you come and benefit from it,” he said.

The commissioner recalled previous cases involving Zamfara and Plateau states, where parties attempted to benefit from irregularities linked to candidate nominations.

“The law was very clear. Once you do that kind of thing, you cannot benefit from it,” Haruna stated, explaining that candidate substitution would give offending parties an advantage from their own breach.

He warned that the consequences could affect parties at different levels of the 2027 elections, depending on INEC’s final position on the judgment.

“Some parties may not be able to finish with even governorship candidates,” he said.

Haruna explained that the commission had examined candidates across the various elective positions during the nomination process.

“All the candidates, all the way to the houses of assembly, we interviewed them. If their names are not on the party register, they were not members of the party at the time that they contested for those tickets,” he stated.

The INEC commissioner said the commission expects to make a definite pronouncement on the Supreme Court judgment by Tuesday next week.

He explained that INEC needed to obtain and study the Certified True Copy(CTC) of the judgment before reaching a final position.

Haruna said the commission must exercise caution because forged court documents had surfaced in the past.

“You can’t be too careful with these things,” he said, noting that some individuals had previously gone as far as forging Supreme Court judgments.

He added that INEC only secured the CTC on Tuesday and would now subject it to proper legal scrutiny.

Beyond the court judgment, Haruna expressed concern about the tone of political campaigns ahead of the 2027 elections, particularly the use of threats by political actors.

He described threats against political opponents as troubling, regardless of the group or party involved.

“Nobody should be threatened at all. All those talks, they are not reassuring at all,” Haruna said.

He urged political actors, including members of the ruling party, to take the issue seriously, stressing that actions capable of creating fear should concern everyone.

Meanwhile, Haruna said INEC was working to secure the funds required to conduct the 2027 elections.

He stressed that the commission no longer had sufficient time to delay preparations and must secure the necessary resources to deliver the elections as scheduled.