INEC Drops Bombshell: 2027 Candidates May Be Disqualified, Parties Barred Over Supreme Court Ruling

The political landscape of Nigeria is trembling. A quiet but devastating legal earthquake has just gone off, and the shockwaves are heading straight for the 2027 general elections.

In a move that has sent panic through the camps of dozens of political aspirants, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has issued a stark, uncompromising warning: if your name is not on the party membership register submitted to the commission, you are not a candidate. Worse still, if your party broke the law to nominate you, they cannot simply swap you out to save face.

The man delivering this political bombshell is INEC National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Mohammed Haruna. Speaking on Trust TV’s Daily Politics programme on Wednesday evening, Haruna didn’t just issue a warning—he drew a line in the sand that could redefine the future of Nigerian democracy.

The most explosive moment of the interview came when Haruna addressed the brazen attempts by political parties to circumvent the law. His words were not just a warning—they were a direct indictment of the political class.“It’s like you committed an offence. And then, you come and benefit from it,” Haruna thundered, referencing the infamous Zamfara and Plateau cases. “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.” 

This statement is a direct reference to the infamous Zamfara and Plateau scenarios, where political parties were barred from fielding candidates in elections because they violated primary and nomination laws. INEC is making it clear: history is about to repeat itself, but on a much larger scale.

The Supreme Court’s September 24 Bombshell

To understand why INEC is suddenly playing hardball, we must go back to September 24, 2026. On that day, the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered a landmark judgment that restored the sharp teeth of the Electoral Act 2026.

The Court of Appeal had previously declared Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7), and 84(2) of the Electoral Act unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court reversed that decision, restoring the provisions that strictly regulate how political parties manage their membership registers and conduct their primaries.

Here is what the law now says, in plain English:

• Section 77(5): Only members whose names are on the membership register submitted to INEC within the required period can participate in a party’s primary, congress, or convention.

• Section 77(6): Political parties cannot use a different membership register for these exercises.

• Section 77(7): A political party that fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated period cannot field a candidate for an election.

• Section 84(2): This provision mandates direct primaries or consensus as the methods for nominating candidates. 

The Chinda Storm: Rivers State in the Eye of the Hurricane

While the Supreme Court judgment did not name any specific candidate, it didn’t need to. The political class knew exactly who was in trouble. And no case has attracted more attention than that of Kingsley Chinda, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Rivers State.

Here is the timeline that has legal experts and political analysts buzzing:

• April 27, 2026: Kingsley Chinda officially registers as a member of the APC.

• May 21, 2026: The Rivers APC holds its governorship primary. Chinda wins. 

The Rivers APC has argued passionately that Chinda met all requirements because there were exactly 24 days between his registration and the primary, satisfying the 21-day requirement under Section 77 of the Electoral Act.

But the Association of Legislative Drafting Practitioners (ALDRAP) is not convinced. They have approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, questioning the validity of the Rivers APC nomination process and demanding that INEC examine Chinda’s candidacy.

The core of the legal question is this: Was Chinda’s name on the membership register that the APC submitted to INEC? If it wasn’t, the Supreme Court’s judgment has just spelled the end of his governorship dream.

INEC’s Sweeping Review: All Candidates Under the Microscope

Mohammed Haruna made it clear that the commission is not just looking at the governorship race. The review extends to every single elective position.“All the candidates, all the way to the Houses of Assembly, we interviewed them,” Haruna revealed. “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.” 

This means that senators, House of Representatives members, and state assembly candidates are all in the crosshairs. The final outcome of this review could see dozens—perhaps hundreds—of candidates disqualified across the country.

In a shocking twist, Haruna revealed why INEC has been cautious about acting on the judgment. The commission had to obtain the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Supreme Court judgment before taking a final position.“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,” Haruna explained. “We’ve seen instances where people have even gone, have the audacity to forge a Supreme Court judgment.” 

This revelation highlights the desperate lengths to which some political actors are willing to go. INEC Chairman Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan confirmed on Tuesday that the commission had finally received the CTC and was reviewing it.

The clock is ticking. INEC is expected to make a definite pronouncement on the implications of the judgment by Tuesday next week.

Until then, no candidate can be automatically regarded as disqualified solely because of the Supreme Court judgment. However, the writing is on the wall for anyone whose nomination was built on a foundation of illegality.