In a unanimous ruling on Thursday, a three-member panel held that INEC’s revised election timetable is subsidiary legislation with the same force as the Electoral Act 2026.
The court ruled that the commission acted within its statutory powers and that all deadlines contained in the timetable comply with the law.
The appellate court also upheld INEC’s appeal against the May 20 judgment, which had invalidated deadlines for party primaries, candidate nominations and the submission of political parties’ membership registers.
The Federal High Court had ruled in favour of the Youth Party, holding that INEC lacked the authority to shorten statutory timelines provided under the Electoral Act, including the 120-day deadline for submitting candidates’ particulars, the 90-day period for candidate substitution and the 60-day minimum period for publishing the final list of candidates.
Challenging the ruling, INEC argued that the suit was academic, that the trial court failed to address key jurisdictional issues, and that its revised timetable was issued within the powers granted to it by law.
The Court of Appeal agreed, setting aside the lower court’s judgment and restoring the electoral body’s timetable for the 2027 polls.
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