INEC Insists on Deadline, Nullifies Primaries Held After May 30
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned political parties that any primary election conducted after the commission’s May 30 deadline remains invalid.
According to the electoral body, this position stands unless a higher court overturns an earlier Federal High Court judgment that disrupted the election timetable.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, made the disclosure.
He advised political parties to continue complying with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 while the commission’s appeal is being determined by the Court of Appeal.
“Obviously, for now, any primary held outside INEC’s May 30 deadline will be invalid unless the Court of Appeal overturns the Federal High Court judgment in INEC’s appeal against the ruling that the timetable breached the Electoral Act 2026 in some of its provisions. In other words, for now, the political parties are better advised to be guided by the existing Act,” Punch quoted Haruna as saying.
Recall that Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja nullified aspects of INEC’s electoral guidelines and schedule. Delivering judgment in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2026, which was filed by the Youth Party against INEC,
Justice Umar ruled that the commission could not lawfully shorten or abridge the timelines provided under Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act 2026 for submitting party membership records and candidate particulars. The court held that the electoral body had acted completely outside its statutory powers.
In response, INEC filed an appeal alongside a motion for a stay of execution, insisting that its timetable was issued in line with its constitutional and statutory mandates.
Less than 24 hours after INEC appealed Justice Umar’s ruling, another Abuja Federal High Court judge, Justice James Omotosho, delivered a conflicting judgment. Presiding over a separate suit (FHC/ABJ/CS/720/2026) filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Justice Omotosho affirmed INEC’s constitutional powers to issue and alter election timetables. He, however, noted that while the commission possesses these regulatory powers, it must exercise them strictly within the parameters prescribed by the Electoral Act 2026.
Prior to the court’s interference, INEC had fixed April 23 to May 30, 2026, as the mandatory window for political parties to conduct their primaries.
The development comes as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) primary election appeals committee in Kaduna State has ordered rerun elections across several federal and state constituencies following local petitions.
