Appeal Court reinstates INEC’s 2027 election guidelines, faults High Court ruling

The Court of Appeal has overturned the Federal High Court judgment that nullified parts of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) guidelines for the conduct of the 2027 general election, ruling that the suit challenging the guidelines was incompetent.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on Thursday, the appellate court set aside the May 20 decision of the Federal High Court, which had declared portions of the guidelines invalid for allegedly violating provisions of the Electoral Act.

Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Adebukola Banjoko held that the Youth Party (YP), which instituted the suit against INEC, lacked the legal standing (locus standi) to challenge the electoral guidelines.

The court ruled that the party failed to demonstrate how the guidelines adversely affected it or its members in the conduct of its primary election for the nomination of candidates ahead of the 2027 general election.

Justice Banjoko further held that the Youth Party did not establish that the guidelines interfered with or hindered the submission of its nominated candidates to INEC.

The three-member panel unanimously agreed that the trial judge, Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court, erred in law by nullifying the guidelines, describing the decision as one that resulted in a miscarriage of justice.

INEC had appealed the judgment, arguing that the lower court failed to determine the threshold issue of jurisdiction before proceeding to the merits of the case.

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Represented by its lead counsel, Dr. Alex Izinyon (SAN), the electoral commission contended that the suit filed by the Youth Party was hypothetical and academic and that the Federal High Court denied it a fair hearing by failing to address those jurisdictional objections.

The commission urged the appellate court to overturn the lower court’s judgment and restore the electoral guidelines issued for the conduct of the 2027 general election.

In its ruling, the Court of Appeal upheld INEC’s arguments, nullified the earlier judgment of the Federal High Court, and affirmed the validity of the commission’s guidelines for the 2027 electoral process.