The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned that political parties that field candidates whose names are not contained in the party registers submitted to the commission will not be allowed to participate in the 2027 elections.
INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education, Malam Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this while speaking on Trust TV’s Daily Politics programme on Wednesday evening.
His comments followed the Supreme Court’s September 24, 2026 judgment, which affirmed the constitutionality of Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act 2026 and upheld INEC’s revised timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 elections.
Haruna said parties that violated the provisions would not be permitted to substitute affected candidates, arguing that such a move would amount to allowing them to benefit from an offence.
He said the commission expected to make a definitive pronouncement on the Supreme Court judgment by Tuesday next week.
“It’s like you committed an offence. And then, you come and benefit from it. You remember cases that we had of some in Zamfara, you remember Plateau? The same thing. The parties, because they did the wrong thing, they thought they could now steal through the candidates.
“And the law was very clear. Once you do that kind of thing, you cannot benefit from it. You are benefiting from it, if you are able to substitute a candidate.”
According to him, depending on the commission’s final decision, “some parties may not be able to finish with even governorship candidates.”
Haruna said the issue could affect candidates across all levels of elective positions, including the state Houses of Assembly.
“All the candidates, all the way to the houses of assembly, we interviewed them. If their names are not on the party register, they were not members of the party at the time that they contested for those tickets.”
He explained that INEC’s delay in making a final pronouncement was due to the need to obtain legal advice after receiving the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Supreme Court judgment.
“You can’t be too careful with these things because even when you see copies and they tell you it’s a CTC, it may be forged. We’ve seen instances where people have even gone, have the audacity to forge a Supreme Court judgment. So, we have to be very careful to make sure that when you took us, we did put a lot of pressure and we were able to get it yesterday (Tuesday).”
The INEC commissioner also expressed concern over the tone of political campaigns ahead of the 2027 elections, particularly the use of threats by some political actors.
He said such conduct remained worrisome, regardless of the number of people involved.
“Those kind of things, even if it’s a minority, it’s a cause for concern, because nobody should be threatened at all. All those talks, they are not reassuring at all. There are things, there are talks, actions, that really is a cause for worry, not just for us, but it should be a cause of worry for everybody, including the ruling party.”
Haruna further disclosed that the commission was working to secure the funds required to conduct the 2027 elections, stressing that INEC was already operating under significant time constraints.
He said the commission no longer had the luxury of time as preparations for the elections continued.
