Court of Appeal Restores INEC Guidelines for 2027 Elections

On Thursday, the Court of Appeal in Abuja unanimously set aside a judgment from the Federal High Court that had nullified the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) guidelines for the 2027 general elections. The appeal was brought by the Youth Party, which had challenged the guidelines on the grounds of lack of standing.

Justice Adebukola Banjoko delivered the lead judgment, stating that the Youth Party failed to demonstrate how the guidelines affected its members or the conduct of its primary elections. The court also noted that the Youth Party did not establish any injury arising from the guidelines that justified its lawsuit.

The previous ruling by Justice Moham Garba Umar on May 20 had declared the guidelines inconsistent with the provisions of the Electoral Act and ruled that INEC lacked the constitutional authority to compel political parties to conduct primaries within a fixed timeline. The Court of Appeal's decision restored the validity of INEC's electoral guidelines for the upcoming elections.