The Court of Appeal in Abuja yesterday validated the electoral guidelines issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the upcoming 2027 general elections.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by a three-member panel, the appellate court set aside a previous Federal High Court ruling from May 20, 2026, which had nullified critical sections of INEC’s revised timetable and administrative guidelines.
The lead judgment, prepared by Justice Adebukola Banjoko and read by Justice Okon Abang, ruled that the plaintiff, the Youth Party, lacked the legal standing to challenge the directives.
The court held that the party failed to demonstrate how INEC’s timelines caused any actual injury to its internal operations or primary election arrangements.
The appellate court clarified that statutory clauses like “not later than 120 days before the election” merely represent deadlines and do not prevent INEC from setting earlier administrative windows.
Judges noted that striking down the guidelines would cause administrative chaos and impede the timely printing of sensitive electoral materials.
The Overturned High Court Decision. Previously, Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court had invalidated INEC’s deadlines.
The lower court had agreed with the Youth Party’s argument that INEC overreached its authority by shortening statutory windows.
This specifically concerned the directive mandating political parties to submit their membership registers and candidate databases by May 10, 2026.
With this new Court of Appeal decision, INEC’s full administrative authority and its original schedule for the 2027 polls have been completely restored
