The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a lawsuit by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) seeking to strike down key provisions of the Electoral Act 2026, dealing a major blow to the party’s legal challenge just months before the 2027 general elections.
Justice Muhammed Umar, in his ruling on Tuesday, rejected the NDC’s bid to invalidate Section 138 of the Electoral Act, which removes candidate qualification disputes from post-election petitions. The court also upheld a preliminary objection that rendered the entire suit incompetent.
Court: No Conflict Between Electoral Act and Constitution
The NDC had argued that Section 138 of the Electoral Act 2026 conflicted with the 1999 Constitution by stripping election tribunals of jurisdiction to hear qualification-related matters after elections.
But Justice Umar ruled otherwise, stating that both laws are complementary rather than contradictory.
“While the 1999 Constitution prescribes the qualifications and disqualifications for elective offices, the Electoral Act merely provides the procedure and timeline for ventilating disputes arising from party primaries,” the judge held.
“The provision of Section 138 of the Electoral Act 2026 complements the provision of the Constitution but is not in conflict with it. The contention of the plaintiff that Section 138 is inconsistent with the Constitution is of no merit.”
Section 77(5) Already Settled by Appeal Court
On the NDC’s challenge to Section 77(5)—which limits voting in party primaries to members whose names appear on registers submitted to INEC at least 21 days before primaries—Justice Umar noted that the Court of Appeal had already addressed the issue.
The appellate court had, on July 16, struck down Sections 77(5), (6), (7), and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, ruling them inconsistent with Sections 221 and 222 of the Constitution.
The judge held that the appellate court’s judgment serves as a binding precedent, making further deliberation on the matter unnecessary.
Pre-Action Notice Fatal to NDC’s Case
In a significant procedural setback, the court upheld a preliminary objection by the Clerk of the National Assembly, who argued that the NDC failed to serve a mandatory pre-action notice before filing the suit.
Justice Umar held that this non-compliance rendered the suit incompetent and liable to be struck out.
“The mere attachment of INEC’s election timetable to the originating summons did not transform the case into a pre-election matter,” the court added.
What the NDC Wanted
The NDC had sought a declaration that questions bordering on the qualification of candidates could be raised after elections—a position that would have fundamentally altered the electoral litigation landscape ahead of 2027.
Named as defendants in the suit were the Attorney General of the Federation, the Clerk of the National Assembly, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and INEC.
Background: The Zenith Party Precedent
The ruling follows a Court of Appeal judgment delivered by a three-member panel led by Justice Balkisu Bello Aliyu, with the lead judgment by Justice Eberechi Nyesom-Wike.
That decision, which favoured the Zenith Party (ZP), struck down the membership register provisions after Justice Umar had initially dismissed the party’s case.
