Supreme Court upholds INEC’s appeal on Electoral Act, dismisses SDP, Youth Party appeals

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the appeal by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against a Court of Appeal judgment that voided parts of the Electoral Act 2026 on political party primaries and membership registers.

A seven-member panel led by Justice Adamu Jauro set aside the Court of Appeal’s decision, which had favoured the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and upheld the judgment of the trial court. The court held that Sections 77(5) and 84 of the Electoral Act do not conflict with the 1999 Constitution. It also awarded N2 million in costs against the ZLP.

INEC was represented by Dr Alex Izinyon, SAN. The panel reserved judgment last week after hearing arguments from the parties.

In two separate judgments, the apex court also ruled against the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Youth Party (YP), which had each appealed against INEC over Court of Appeal decisions in their cases.

The court heard the SDP’s appeal on its merit and dismissed it. It struck out the Youth Party’s appeal after upholding INEC’s preliminary objection, describing it as invalid and incompetent because it was filed one day out of time.

The ZLP sued at the Federal High Court, Abuja, in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/509/2026, challenging Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026. Sections 77(5) to (7) set out requirements for political parties’ membership registers. Section 84(2) prescribes direct primaries or consensus as the methods for nominating candidates.

The party argued that the provisions conflicted with the Constitution and amounted to unconstitutional interference in the internal affairs of political parties. Its case rested partly on Sections 221 and 222 of the Constitution, which provide the framework for political parties.

Justice Mohammed Umar dismissed the suit on 5 May 2026. The ZLP appealed to the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division (CA/ABJ/CV/750/2026). In its judgment on 16 July 2026, the appellate court allowed the appeal in part and voided provisions of the Act on party primaries and membership registers.

INEC then appealed to the Supreme Court in the appeal marked SC/CR/495/2026, and asked the court to dismiss the SDP and YP appeals as well.