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The Nigerian Supreme Court's recent ruling, which reinstated critical sections of the 2026 Electoral Act, has ignited a legal storm that threatens to reshape the political landscape. By declaring that membership registers are statutory instruments, the court has set a precedent that could disqualify numerous candidates and force parties to re-evaluate their nomination processes.
Harold Lasswell reminded us, politics is about who gets what, when, and how. In Nigeria today, that question has acquired unsettling new dimensions: who is entitled to contest, under which party, on the authority of which register, following which primary, and under what version of the law.
Supreme Court Restores Electoral Register Rules
The Supreme Court's verdict penultimate Thursday rendered that question not merely urgent but existential. By restoring Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7), and 84(2) of the 2026 Electoral Act, the Court has effectively placed democracy itself in the dock. Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Adamu Jauro declared: 'The register of members is not a party's private diary; it is a statutory instrument with electoral consequences.
' This pronouncement alone unsettled candidates who once treated membership cards as little more than souvenirs. As Chinua Achebe warned, 'A man who brings home ant-infested faggots should not complain when lizards pay him a visit.
' Parties that neglected their registers are now discovering that the lizards of litigation have arrived to feast. The days ahead will determine whether candidates who once strutted with the confidence of kings and queens will shuffle like defendants in the dock. Names such as Kingsley Chinda in Rivers, Ovie Omo-Agege in Delta Central, Isa Pantami in Gombe, and Oladipupo Adebutu in Ogun are already being whispered in political corridors.
They have not yet been dragged to court, but the proviso is clear: the ink of registers, not the roar of rallies, will decide their fate. A membership card waved at a rally is now as flimsy as a counterfeit note; the real currency is the statutory record. For years, parties treated registers as housekeeping, primaries as coronations, and nomination forms as paperwork to be tidied up later. The Supreme Court's verdict is a confirmatory rebuke to such complacency.
INEC Faces Implementation Challenge
Internal affairs end where statutory requirements begin. INEC, poor INEC, is the reluctant witness dragged into this drama. It cannot ignore the apex court, yet it must resist the temptation to play judge and jury. Its role is to apply the law, verify registers, and enforce compliance.
Where facts are contested, the courts must decide. According to National Commissioner Malam Mohammed Haruna and Deputy Director Wilfred Ifogah, the commission has received the Certified True Copy of the judgment and will study it meticulously before announcing its implementation strategy. Because the Supreme Court upheld INEC's appeal in full, restoring key regulatory clauses of the Electoral Act, the commission is legally positioned to take significant action.
Inside sources indicate that INEC is preparing to formulate an official position this week regarding candidates who violated the reinstated provisions during party primaries. Civic and legal groups are urging it to remove or update names on its portal for affected candidates. It may well be a week of the long knife, but surely a definitive one for the parties, their candidates, and Nigeria's 2027 general elections. The first cuts have already been made.
Register Challenges Reach Federal Courts
In Ogun, the Federal High Court in Abeokuta has adjourned to 3 November a suit by PDP senatorial aspirant Sogbesan Amoo challenging INEC's recognition of Senator Iyabo Obasanjo as the party's candidate for Ogun Central. Amoo contends that Obasanjo's name was not contained in the PDP membership register submitted to INEC and that she neither participated in nor won the party's senatorial primary.
The court has yet to determine those allegations, but the case is an early illustration of the litigation the Supreme Court judgment may unleash. In Gombe, the tremors are equally sharp. On 16 May 2026, the APC primary produced J.C. Ali as candidate for the Balanga/Billiri Federal Constituency.
But on Wednesday, citing the Supreme Court precedent, Justice Vera Ibrahim of the Federal High Court, Gombe, ruled the primary invalid, ordered the APC to conduct a fresh primary within 30 days, and barred Ali from participating because his name was not in the register forwarded to INEC. The ruling underscores a broader warning: candidates whose membership cannot be verified in the statutory register, those who defected after losing primaries elsewhere, and those who secured nominations without meeting membership or participation requirements may all face similar scrutiny.
These are not isolated tremors; they are the first cracks in a tectonic plate. As the Hausa say, 'Komai nisan jifa, ƙasa zai dawo' - no matter how far you throw a stone, it will return to earth. Every nomination must now return to the earth of statutory compliance.
Nigeria Supreme Court Electoral Act Membership Register Party Primaries 2027 Elections Candidate Disqualification INEC Judicial Review Political Accountability
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