2027: Non-Transparent Primaries May Undermine Public Trust, Destabilise Electoral Process, INEC Warns 

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

With political primaries scheduled between April 23 and May 30, 2026, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned that non-transparent nomination processes could undermine public trust and destabilise the electoral process.

The commission added that if candidates emerge through opaque processes, the country might face voter apathy and an explosion of pre-election litigation.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Wednesday in Uyo during a three-day Technical Review Workshop on Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties ahead of the 2027 elections.

The workshop was organized with the support of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD).

Amupitan, in a statement issued Wednesday by INEC Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mrs. Victoria Eta-Messi, said the workshop was organised following the enactment of the Electoral Act 2026 and the release of the commission’s revised timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 general election.

Under the revised timetable, presidential and National Assembly elections would hold on Saturday, January 16, 2027, while governorship and state Assembly elections are scheduled for Saturday, February 6, 2027.

He described the exercise as a critical institutional realignment aimed at harmonising the commission’s regulatory framework with the new legal order.

“We meet at a watershed moment in our democratic journey,” the chairman said, noting that the Electoral Act 2026, assented to in February, has recalibrated statutory timelines and compressed the operational window for electoral activities.

Amupitan emphasised that the ongoing review was not a routine administrative exercise but a deliberate effort to sanitise party operations and embed higher standards of accountability.

He noted: “We are not just editing a document. We are aligning our regulations and guidelines with the 2026 Act to ensure that our electoral architecture is not only robust in theory but strong in practice.”

The Chairman identified the conduct of party primaries as a focal point of the reforms. 

Amupitan added: “With primaries scheduled between 23rd April and 30th May 2026, non-transparent nomination processes could undermine public trust and destabilise the electoral process.

“The quality of internal party democracy has a direct bearing on the election conducted by INEC. If candidates emerge through opaque processes, we face voter apathy and an explosion of pre-election litigation.”

The chairman decried the recurring leadership tussles and intra-party disputes that frequently end up in court, often with INEC joined as a party.

He stated: “Each day spent defending avoidable intra-party disputes is a day diverted from our primary mandate of election planning,” Amupitan said, stressing that while the commission remains neutral, it will enforce compliance firmly and consistently.

“The revised 2026 Guidelines will introduce stricter benchmarks for membership documentation, financial transparency, and the inclusion of women, youth and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).”

Amupitan cited Sections 83(5) and (6) of the Electoral Act 2026, which remove the jurisdiction of courts over internal party affairs, reinforcing judicial precedent on party autonomy.

Anchoring the commission’s authority on Section 160 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Section 151 of the Electoral Act 2026, the chairman assured stakeholders that INEC would remain open, accountable and guided strictly by the law.

“The sovereign will of the Nigerian people must remain sacrosanct from the point of candidate nomination to the final declaration of results,” he affirmed.

Also, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Election and Party Monitoring Committee (EPMC), Dr. Baba Bila, described the review as strategic and timely, being the first comprehensive regulatory exercise following the enactment of the Electoral Act 2026.

He explained that the 2022 Regulations and Guidelines, which cover party registration and de-registration, party operations, conduct of primaries, campaigns and campaign finance reporting, require both structural refinement and substantive amendments to reflect the new statutory provisions.

“The review and updating of the Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties could not have come at a better time than now,” Bila said.

On his part, the Country Director of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) Nigeria, Mr. Adebowale Olorunmola, reaffirmed the organisation’s technical partnership with INEC.

According to him, “With the recent passage and assent of the Electoral Act 2026, there is a need for the guidelines and regulations to be improved in order to give bite to the Act.”