2027 Polls: Court Of Appeal Validates INEC’s Guidelines

By Ayodele Oni

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has described a lower Court’s judgement which invalidated the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) on the conduct of the 2027 general election, as miscarriage of Justice, and so,  and set it aside.

In a unanimous judgment on Thursday, the Court set aside the judgment of May 20 of the Federal High Court in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2026, which nullified parts of the INEC’s electoral guidelines.

In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Adebukola Banjoko, the Court of Appeal held that the Youth Party (YP) which instituted the case against INEC lacked legal power, (locus standi) to do what it did.

Justice Banjoko said that the party did not explain how the guidelines affected it and it’s members in the conduct of its primary election for the nomination of candidates for the 2027 poll.

The Court also held that the YP failed to establish how the Guidelines affected the submission of its nominated candidates to INEC.

The three Justices unanimously agreed that Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court, who on May 20 nullified the guidelines on the ground that it violated some provisions of the Electoral Act, did so in gross errors and led to miscarriage of justice.

INEC which filed an application against the high court decision had argued that the lower court erred in law when it failed to pronounce on the jurisdictional issue of the suit being hypothetic and academic, and a denial of fair hearing to the appellant.

INEC through its lead Counsel Dr Alex Izinyom had asked the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court which nullified part of the election guidelines put in place by the agency for the conduct of the 2027 general election.