Appeal court dismisses judgment nullifying INEC deadlines for 2027 elections

 The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed the judgment that
nullified the timelines issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) for the conduct of party primaries and the nomination of candidates.

 

In a unanimous decision delivered on Thursday, the
appellate court affirmed the guidelines issued by INEC for the 2027 elections.

In the lead judgment prepared by Adebukola Banjoko but read
by Okon Abang, the court of appeal ruled that the Youth Party (YP) that
instituted the case against INEC lacked the legal power to do so.

The court held that the YP did not tell the court how INEC
guidelines affected the party in the conduct of primary elections for the 2027
election.

The appellate court ruled that INEC acted within its legal
powers to issue the election timetable and the lower court “wrongly granted”
the reliefs sought by the applicant.

The court held that YP can only invoke the powers of the
court if there are threats to its rights to participate in the 2027 elections.

BACKGROUND

In May, a federal high court in Abuja nullified the
timelines issued by INEC for the conduct of party primaries and the nomination
of candidates.

Mohammed Umar, the presiding judge, held that INEC cannot
“fix or prescribe the timetable within which political parties may conduct
their primary elections for the purpose of nominating candidates for the 2027
general elections”.

Umar ruled that the powers granted to INEC under sections
29, 82 and 84(1) of the Electoral Act do not extend to determining timelines
for party primaries.

The judgment was delivered in a suit, marked
FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2016, filed on March 11 by the YP, with INEC listed as the sole
defendant.

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