Headlines: [UPDATED] Appeal Court Validates INEC Guidelines On 2027 Elections, Dismisses High Court Judgment

Headlines:
[UPDATED] Appeal Court Validates INEC Guidelines On 2027 Elections, Dismisses High Court Judgment

The three justices unanimously agreed that the Federal High Court, Abuja, which nullified the guidelines, did so in gross error, leading to a miscarriage of justice.

A combo image of a gavel and INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has validated the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the conduct of the 2027 general elections.

In a unanimous judgment, the appellate court voided and set aside the May 20 judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which nullified the guidelines and barred their implementation.

In the lead judgment prepared by Justice Adebukola Banjoko but read by Justice Okon Abang, the Court of Appeal held that the Youth Party (YP), which instituted the case against INEC, lacked legal power (locus standi) to do what it did.

Justice Banjoko said that the party did not explain how the guidelines affected it and its members in the conduct of its primary elections for the nomination of candidates for the 2027 polls.

The court also held that the YP failed to establish how the guidelines affected the submission of its nominated candidates to INEC.

The three justices unanimously agreed that Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, who on May 20 nullified the guidelines on the ground that it violated some provisions of the Electoral Act, did so in gross errors and led to a miscarriage of justice.

INEC, which filed an appeal against the high court’s decision, had argued that the lower court erred in law when it failed to pronounce on the jurisdictional issue of the suit being hypothetical and academic, and a denial of fair hearing to the appellant.

INEC, through its lead counsel, Dr Alex Izinyon, had asked the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court which nullified part of the election guidelines put in place by the agency for the conduct of the 2027 general election.

The Federal High Court in Abuja had invalidated the timeline issued by INEC for the conduct of primaries and the nomination of candidates, ahead of the 2027 general election.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Umar, it also set aside INEC’s May 10 deadline requiring political parties to submit a register and database of all their members as a condition for qualifying to participate in the general elections.

The court held that the time frame the electoral umpire announced for political parties to conduct their primaries and to submit, withdraw, or replace the names and particulars of their candidates for the general elections “is inconsistent with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.”

But in the appeal dated May 25, 2026, filed by INEC, through its counsel, Izinyon (SAN), the electoral body prayed the court to set aside the judgment.

The senior advocate, in the appeal, also asked the court to stay the execution of the judgment.

In the appeal, the electoral umpire raised nine grounds of appeal and prayed the court to set aside the judgment.