INEC to decide on Supreme Court judgement today

The Independent National Electoral Commission will today make public its position on the Supreme Court judgement which affirmed the constitutionality of Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act 2026 and upheld INEC’s revised timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 elections.

INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan had on Tuesday confirmed that the commission has received the certified true copy of the judgement and that it is being reviewed.

Our correspondent reports that since the judgment was delivered on September 24, there have been growing concerns over the implications of the judgment especially for candidates who changed political parties after their former parties had conducted or commenced nomination exercises.

Amupitan said INEC had received 112 formal complaints from aspirants, candidates and political parties concerning the nomination process and had investigated and resolved all of them except those pending before the courts.

The electoral commission had on Saturday, released the names of governorship and state assembly candidates to meet statutory obligations, which according to findings was done without recourse to the Supreme Court judgement.

However, Daily Trust gathered reliably yesterday that the INEC chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan will today meet with top officials of the commission to conclude on its stance to make its position known saying the electoral body has been under pressure from all quarters to do so,

He said after today’s meeting, the commission would issue a statement on the matter which would be released to the public immediately after.

“The meeting will definitely hold tomorrow and a statement would be issued to state our position,” he stated.

There have been debates as to whether INEC has the power to disqualify candidates on its own based on the Supreme court judgement.

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