The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has issued a stern warning to political parties, stating that any primary elections held after the commission’s May 30 deadline are completely null and void, except if a superior court cancels a previous Federal High Court ruling on the matter.
Mohammed Kudu Haruna, the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, made this known during an interview with The Punch.
He counseled that political parties must continue to follow the rules laid down in the Electoral Act 2026 while the commission awaits the outcome of its appeal before the Court of Appeal.
Haruna stated: “Obviously, for now, any primary held outside INEC’s May 30 deadline will be invalid unless the Court of Appeal overturns the Federal High Court judgment in INEC’s appeal against the ruling that the timetable breached the Electoral Act 2026 in some of its provisions. In other words, for now, the political parties are better advised to be guided by the existing Act.”
The INEC commissioner’s warning comes amid a legal battle surrounding the commission’s official schedule for party primaries and candidate selections ahead of the 2027 general elections.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, led by Justice Mohammed Umar, had previously cancelled parts of the electoral guidelines and schedules created by INEC for the 2027 elections.
Delivering judgment on a case filed by the Youth Party against INEC (suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2026), Justice Umar ruled that the commission does not have the legal right to shorten the timeframes given in Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act 2026 regarding the submission of party member lists and candidate details.
The court added that INEC went beyond its legal powers by shortening timelines already established by the Electoral Act 2026.
In response, INEC appealed the judgment and asked for a stay of execution, arguing that its election schedule was created in line with its constitutional and legal duties.
Before the court’s decision, INEC had set aside April 23 to May 30, 2026, as the official period for political parties to run their primaries for the 2027 elections, while instructing them to meet all other dates on the updated calendar.
Interestingly, less than 24 hours after INEC filed its appeal against Justice Umar’s decision, another Federal High Court judge in Abuja, Justice James Omotosho, upheld INEC’s authority to create and adjust election schedules.
Ruling on a case brought by the Social Democratic Party (Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/720/2026), Justice Omotosho affirmed that the constitution empowers INEC to set up timetables and timelines for elections.
However, the judge noted that even with these powers, the commission must operate strictly within the timeframes set by the Electoral Act, 2026.
This legal standoff unfolds just as the primary election appeals committee of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Kaduna State ordered fresh elections in various federal and state constituencies following complaints from its recently held primaries.
The head of the committee, Dr. Muhammed Fagge, explained that the panel arrived at this conclusion after a deep review of petitions, physical evidence, and testimonies from dissatisfied aspirants.
According to him, the committee uncovered widespread manipulation and dishonest practices in some of the internal elections.
As a result, the panel declared multiple primaries inconclusive and ordered fresh voting in areas where they found massive irregularities, broken rules, missing names of aspirants on ballots, and a lack of evidence that real voting ever occurred.
For example, in the Ikara/Kubau Federal Constituency, the committee ordered a completely fresh primary after finding out that Ibrahim Kubau, a fully screened aspirant, was left off the ballot papers entirely.
They also ordered a rerun for the Kaduna South Federal Constituency due to a lack of believable evidence that any voting happened across the wards.
Fagge announced that fresh elections will take place in the affected wards and constituencies across Kaura, Soba, Ikara, Kajuru, Badarawa/Malali, Magajin Gari II, Birnin Gwari, Tudun Wada West, Igabi, Kagarko, Kawo, Zaria, Chikun/Kajuru, and Kudan/Makarfi, among others.
He stated that the decision was taken to protect the honesty and reputation of the party’s selection process.
The committee also gave a ruling on the Kaduna North Senatorial District primary, warning that any plan to pick a candidate through consensus or general agreement would be useless unless every single party involved signs off on it.
Fagge emphasized that no politician should be cheated out of a fair chance due to administrative errors or election malpractices.
However, Haruna’s latest statement on the INEC timeline emphasizes that until the appeal court gives its final verdict, political parties face the heavy risk of losing any primary conducted after the May 30 deadline.
