1 month ago
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Political parties may be barred from fielding candidates in the 2027 general election if they fail to comply with Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2026.
Naija News reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Electoral Act amendment bill into law on February 18 after its passage by the National Assembly.
However, some opposition parties have described certain provisions of the law as “obnoxious.”
Section 77(2) of the Act mandates political parties to submit a comprehensive digital membership register to the Independent National Electoral Commission at least 21 days before their primaries.
The register must contain the name, sex, date of birth, address, state, local government, ward, polling unit, national identity number and photograph of members in both hard and soft copies.
Section 77(5) further provides that only members whose names are contained in the register shall be eligible to vote or be voted for during party primaries, congresses and conventions.
According to Section 77(7), any party that fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated timeframe “shall not be eligible to field a candidate.”
On Thursday, INEC released a revised timetable, fixing January 16, 2027, for the presidential and National Assembly elections.
The commission scheduled the governorship and state Houses of Assembly polls for February 6, 2027.
INEC directed political parties to comply with Section 77(2) by submitting their membership registers by April 21 and conducting primaries between April 23 and May 30.
The electoral body had earlier fixed February 20 and March 6, 2027, for the respective elections, but reviewed the timetable following the repeal of the Electoral Act 2022 and enactment of the Electoral Act 2026.
Opposition parties, including the African Democratic Congress, have rejected Section 77 and the revised timetable, alleging that they are designed to narrow democratic space ahead of 2027.
In a statement on Friday, Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesperson for the ADC, described the provision as a “deliberately constructed barrier” that could exclude opposition parties from the electoral process.
He alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had begun compiling its digital membership register as far back as February 2025.
Abdullahi said, “This is not a product of foresight, but insider knowledge.
“They knew what was coming. They therefore had one whole year to carry out an exercise that they expect other political parties to execute in one month, during which they must collect, process and collate vast digital data and transmit the same to INEC by the deadline under the threat of total exclusion.”
He described the timeframe as a “practical impossibility” for opposition parties.
In a separate statement, a former chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ose Anenih, said opposition parties were “constrained” to comply with the new requirements.
He warned that there is a “real possibility that only 1 or 2 parties will field candidates in 2027.”
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