October 5, (THEWILL) – Following the September 28 Supreme Court judgement which restored the authority of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to regulate, supervise and coordinate activities of political parties, according to its mandate as defined in the Electoral Act 2026 and relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution, the Commission has scheduled a national stakeholders’ meeting for Tuesday in Abuja.
Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Adedayo Oketola, disclosed this on Sunday in Abuja, adding that the Commission will also use the occasion to mark 100 days to the 2027 general election.
According to Oketola, INEC will, at the event, provide updates on preparations for the elections, including the voters’ register, candidate nominations, logistics and critical measures to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.
He added the event would be addressed by INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, alongside other key stakeholders involved in the electoral process.
He said, “The national stakeholders’ meeting underlines the commission’s commitment to absolute transparency, proactive public communication and collaborative engagement with key actors in the electoral ecosystem.The meeting will bring together political party leaders, security agencies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), members of the diplomatic corps, development partners and civil society organisations,” he said.
Also expected at the event, according to Oketola, are observer groups, disability rights advocates, religious and traditional leaders, youth organisations and media executives.
He noted that attendance at the event holding at Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre (BAT-ICC), Abuja, would commence at 10 a.m.
“The event will be broadcast live on major national television networks and streamed on INEC’s official social media platforms.
“Accredited media representatives and invited guests are required to present their invitation cards or accreditation badges at security checkpoints,” he said.
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THEWILL recalls that the apex court ruling which nullified a previous ruling by the Appeal Court upholding the powers of political parties to regulate their affairs with minimum interference from INEC, had since thrown political parties into disarray as many aggrieved aspirants from other parties had used the window created by the appellate court judgement to join them, thereby creating an illegality under the restored law.
According to the Supreme Court: Section 77(5) of the Electoral Act 2026 provides that only members whose names are contained in a political party’s membership register, submitted to INEC, at least 21 days before a primary, congress or convention is held, can participate in the exercise.
Section 77(6) states that a party cannot use any membership register other than the one submitted to the electoral commission for its primaries, congresses and conventions. Under section 77(7), a party that fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated period cannot field a candidate for the election.
Section 84(2) stipulates that political parties shall nominate candidates for elective positions through direct primaries or consensus.
This effectively means that aspirants cannot participate in two primaries in any election cycle and the political parties may not be able to field candidates in the affected constituencies, if INEC decides to abide strictly with the Supreme Court judgement.
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