The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has clarified why some political parties were left out of the final list of candidates for the 2027 governorship elections, saying the omission was based on a binding Supreme Court judgment that made the submission of party membership registers a mandatory requirement.
The electoral body said the affected parties failed to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026, requiring political parties to submit their membership registers before conducting valid primary elections.
In a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, INEC said the decision followed the Supreme Court’s judgment in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party (Appeal No. SC/CV/495/2026) delivered on September 24, 2026.
The Commission explained that the apex court overturned an earlier Court of Appeal decision which had nullified Sections 77(5), (6) and (7) of the Electoral Act, 2026. The Supreme Court, it said, upheld the constitutionality of the provisions and ruled that political parties must submit their membership registers to INEC as a condition for conducting valid primaries and sponsoring candidates for elections.
INEC also noted that the Supreme Court affirmed Item 2 of its Timetable and Schedule of Activities, which fixed April 21 to May 10, 2026, as the period for political parties to submit their membership registers.
According to the Commission, the court made it clear that any political party that failed to meet the statutory requirement could not validly sponsor candidates for the governorship election.
“Consequently, while preparing the final list of governorship candidates, the Commission was under a constitutional obligation to give effect to the Supreme Court judgment by excluding parties that failed to comply with the law,” INEC said.
The Commission, however, explained that the situation was different for the presidential and National Assembly elections because the final lists for those contests had already been published on September 12, 2026, nearly two weeks before the Supreme Court delivered its judgment.
INEC further reminded political parties that Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026, gives any party that believes its candidate was wrongly omitted from the published list 14 days to notify the Commission.
It said the deadline for submitting such complaints is October 24, 2026.
The Commission reaffirmed its commitment to conducting transparent, credible and lawful elections, stressing that its decisions would continue to be guided by the Constitution, the Electoral Act and judgments of the courts.