
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned political parties that field candidates whose names were not contained in the membership registers submitted to the commission that such candidates may not be allowed to contest the 2027 general elections.
The commission also ruled out the possibility of parties benefiting from violations of the Electoral Act by substituting candidates whose eligibility is affected by the breach.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this on Wednesday while appearing on Trust TV’s Daily Politics programme.
Haruna’s warning followed the September 24, 2026 judgment of the Supreme Court, 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.
According to him, political parties that failed to comply with the law on the submission of their membership registers should not be allowed to circumvent the consequences by replacing affected candidates. He said allowing such substitutions would amount to permitting a party to benefit from an offence it had committed.
“It’s like you committed an offence. And then, you come and benefit from it,” Haruna said, recalling previous disputes involving political parties and candidates in Zamfara and Plateau states.
“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.”
The commissioner said the implication of the position being considered by INEC was that some political parties could be left without candidates for certain elective positions, including governorship and legislative seats.
He explained that INEC had interviewed candidates across the various levels of the 2027 elections and checked their membership status against the registers submitted by their political parties.
“All the candidates, all the way to the Houses of Assembly, we interviewed them. 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,” he said.
Haruna, however, said INEC was yet to make a definitive pronouncement on the practical implications of the Supreme Court judgment, explaining that the commission needed to obtain and study the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment and receive legal advice.
He said the commission had only recently obtained the CTC and was being deliberately cautious because of past instances in which purported court judgments had been forged.
“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,” he said.
“We’ve seen instances where people have even gone, have the audacity to forge a Supreme Court judgment. So, we have to be very careful.”
The national commissioner said INEC expected to be able to make a definite pronouncement on the judgment by Tuesday next week.
INEC raises alarm over threats ahead of polls.
Meanwhile, INEC expressed concern over the increasingly hostile tone of political campaigns ahead of the 2027 elections, particularly threats allegedly being issued by some political actors.
Haruna said such statements were disturbing regardless of the number of people making them, stressing that no participant in the electoral process should be subjected to threats.
“Those kind of things, even if it’s a minority, it’s a cause for concern, because nobody should be threatened at all,” he said.
He added that inflammatory statements and actions should concern not only INEC but all Nigerians, including the ruling party.
The commission, he said, was also working to secure the funds required to conduct the 2027 elections, stressing that time was running out.
“We don’t have the luxury of time any more,” Haruna said.














