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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters has charged the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) to disqualify candidates for the 2027 general election, whose names are not in their political parties register.
The chairman of the Committee, Bayo Balogun, said the committee’s demand was in line with the recent Supreme Court judgment on the the 2026 Electoral Act, noting that there was a need to enforce Section 77 of the electoral law.
The committee referenced INEC’s July 26 communication, in which the Commission, raised concerns over judicial. pronouncements and ongoing court cases on the interpretation and enforceability of Section 77.
It stated that while, INEC’s position then was understandable, to avoid taking administrative steps that could be affected by a final court determination, there is now legal position on the issue.
According to the committee, “the Supreme Court, as the apex court on constitutional and electoral disputes, has now delivered judgement on the constitutionality of Section 77(5) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which provides that only members whose names are in the register of a political party shall be eligible to vote and be voted for in the party’s primaries, congresses and conventions.”
Consequently, the Committee urged the electoral Commission to audit candidates of all political parties for the 2027 general election, to ascertain that their names are contained in the party registers earlier submitted to INEC, in compliance with Section 77(5).
Furthermore, it requested that INEC proceed without delay to fully enforce Section 77, subsections 4 to 6, in monitoring political parties and their electoral activities.
The Committee, while stating that this was a litmus test for the electoral body, stressed the need to disqualify any party and candidate that have complied with the law “to save the courts from a flood of litigations arising from non-compliance.”
