The All Progressives Congress has formally asked the Independent National Electoral Commission to enforce a recent Supreme Court judgment requiring political parties to submit digital membership registers before primaries, congresses and conventions.
In a letter dated October 9, 2026, and signed by National Chairman Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda and National Secretary Sen. Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, the ruling party called on INEC to apply the full legal consequences of non-compliance. Those consequences, the APC noted, include barring any defaulting party from fielding candidates in the general election.
The Supreme Court delivered the judgment on September 24, 2026, in the case of INEC v Zenith Labour Party (Suit No. SC/CV/495/2026). The apex court upheld section 77 of the Electoral Act 2026 and set aside an earlier Court of Appeal order that had declared sections 77(5) to (7) and 84(2) of the Act, along with a related item in INEC’s revised timetable for the 2027 general election, unconstitutional.
The APC letter outlined three specific demands. First, INEC should enforce the judgment according to its terms. Second, the commission should verify whether each party submitted its digital membership register within the statutory timeframe and apply the sanctions under section 77(7) where necessary. Third, only members whose names appear on the register submitted to INEC should be allowed to vote or stand in internal party elections.
Section 77(4) of the Electoral Act requires parties to make their registers available to the commission not later than 21 days before the date fixed for primaries, congresses or conventions. Section 77(5) restricts participation to those listed on the submitted register, while section 77(6) prohibits parties from using any other list.
According to the APC, the Supreme Court stated at page 24 of its judgment that a party that fails to submit its digital membership register within the prescribed period may be precluded from fielding candidates in the general election. The court described this as evidence of the mandatory nature of the requirements and the legal consequences of non-compliance.
The judgment further held that the objective of section 77 is to promote internal party democracy through fair, transparent and verifiable processes. It relied on section 228(a) of the Constitution, which empowers the National Assembly to legislate on internal party democracy, and on the earlier decision in Ardo v Nyako (2014).
The APC also pointed out that the Supreme Court observed parties had been given sufficient time by INEC to meet the deadline. “Therefore, there is no justifiable reason for any political party to breach the deadline imposed by law,” the letter stated.
As the appellant in the case, INEC is bound by the judgment under section 287(1) of the Constitution, the party said. It insisted that compliance with section 77 is a statutory obligation, not a matter of discretion, and warned that failure to apply the prescribed consequences would undermine internal democracy, electoral transparency and the rule of law.
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