Supreme Court judgement responsible for exclusion of some parties from guber election list — INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified a recent supreme Court judgement as the reason for the exclusion of some candidates from the final list for the 2027 governorship election, citing non-compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.

The Commission said the decision followed a Supreme Court judgment in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party, Appeal No. SC/CV/495/2026, delivered on September 24, 2026.

In a press release dated October 13, 2026, and signed by Mohammed Kudu Haruna, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC said the judgment upheld the constitutionality of Section 77(5)–(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which requires political parties to submit their membership registers as a prerequisite for conducting valid party primaries.

According to the Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that the provisions were constitutional and mandatory for all political parties.

It added that the court also upheld Item 2 of INEC’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities, which required political parties to submit their membership registers between April 21 and May 10, 2026.

INEC stated that political parties that failed to comply with the statutory requirements were ineligible to sponsor candidates for the election.

The Commission revealed that it applied the Supreme Court’s decision in preparing the final list of governorship candidates, excluding parties that failed to meet the requirements of Section 77(5)–(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026.

The electoral body, however, clarified that the final lists of presidential and National Assembly candidates had already been published on September 12, 2026, 13 days before the Supreme Court delivered its judgment.

INEC further disclosed that under Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026, political parties that believe their candidates were wrongly omitted from the list have 14 days from the date of publication to notify the Commission.

It said the deadline for such notifications is October 24, 2026.

The Commission reaffirmed its commitment to transparency, the rule of law and the credibility of Nigeria’s electoral process.