INEC Insists on Supreme Court Verdict, Says Erring Parties Won’t Field Candidates

• Insists those not in party registers at the close of regulatory time will be affected •Seeks stakeholders’ support as voters’ register display begins Oct 9 in Sokoto Chuks Okocha, Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has warned that political parties fielding candidates whose names were not in the registers submitted to the commission at the close of regulatory time will not be allowed to participate in the 2027 elections. The Supreme Court had in a September 24, 2026 judgement 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 general election. Those whose nominations might have attracted attention included Rivers State governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Kingsley Chinda; Delta Central senatorial candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Ovie Omo-Agege; former Cross River State Governor and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate, Donald Duke; and a former Delta State House of Assembly Speaker, Victor Ochei. INEC National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Mohammed Haruna, explained the implications of the judgement while speaking on Trust TV’s Daily Politics programme, yesterday. Haruna said the affected parties would also not be allowed to substitute such candidates, stating that parties should not benefit from violations of the law. He said the commission was expected to make a definite pronouncement on the implications of the Supreme Court judgement by next Tuesday. Haruna stated, “It’s like you committed an offence. And then, you come and benefit from it. You remember cases that we had of some in Zamfara, you remember Plateau? The same thing happened. “The parties, because they did the wrong thing, they thought they could now steal through the candidates. “And 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.” According to him, depending on when the commission concludes its review, some political parties may be unable to field candidates for some other elective positions. Haruna stated, “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 explained that the delay in INEC’s final position was due to the need to obtain legal advice after receiving the Certified True Copy of the Supreme Court judgement. Haruna said the commission had to exercise caution because forged copies of court judgements had been presented in the past. He said, “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. We’ve seen instances where people have even gone, have the audacity to forge a Supreme Court judgement. “So, we have to be very careful to make sure that we take the right decision .” Amupitan: Unverified Electoral Fraud Claims Could Damage Public Confidence In another development, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, warned yesterday that unverified allegations of electoral fraud could inflict lasting damage on confidence in the electoral process, even when subsequently corrected. Amupitan gave the warning in Lagos while speaking at the 10th Annual Conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), with the theme, “2027 Elections: Trust, Transparency and Shared Responsibilities.” The INEC chairman was represented by Resident Electoral Commissioner, Lagos, Professor Ayobami Salami. Amupitan, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Adedayo Oketola, urged online publishers to place accuracy above the pressure to break stories ahead of competitors, warning against the use of clickbait headlines and unverified information in election reporting. He said, “While INEC carries the legal mandate to conduct elections, the wider democratic health of Nigeria and, indeed, West Africa depends on the information infrastructure maintained by the media, particularly online publishers. This is where the core concept of Shared Responsibility becomes operational. “We live in an era where the velocity of digital information frequently outpaces the verification of truth.” Amupitan stated, “Across our sub-region, election windows are increasingly targeted by coordinated information warfare, political violence narratives, synthetic media, and AI-generated deepfakes designed to inflame ethnic divides or passion and undermine institutional legitimacy. “Fake news, unverified leaks, and sensationalised reports directly destroy public trust, incite civil unrest, and induce voter apathy. “When an unverified claim regarding electoral fraud is published, the damage to public confidence is immediate and enduring; subsequent retractions or fact-checks rarely repair the injury.” Amupitan said the media had a critical responsibility in shaping public perception of the electoral process, stressing that inaccurate reports could have consequences beyond the immediate news cycle. He urged publishers to provide proper context when reporting operational challenges during elections, rather than presenting isolated incidents as evidence of systemic failure. The INEC chief said responsible journalism would require media organisations to verify claims with the commission and other credible sources, particularly when reporting polling-unit results, electoral irregularities and allegations of manipulation. Responding to the issue of result declaration, Salami explained that the 1999 Constitution specifically vested the authority to return an election result to the Returning Officer. Salami clarified that being an INEC official did not automatically confer the constitutional authority to return election results. He stated that even as a Resident Electoral Commissioner, he did not have the constitutional power to announce or return an election result. He explained that Returning Officers were appointed by the commission and the officials constitutionally empowered to return the results of the elections assigned to them. In his opening remarks, Conference Chairman, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, underscored the people’s constitutional right to vote, urging INEC to ensure that the 2027 elections are free, fair, and credible. Agbakoba raised key issues expected to shape political discourse ahead of the elections, particularly the future of fuel subsidy. He challenged presidential candidates to explain their positions on the subsidy regime and what they would do differently if elected. INEC Seeks Stakeholders’ Support as Voters Register Display Begins October 9 INEC in Sokoto State is billed to commence the display of the Preliminary Register of Voters for claims and objections, alongside the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), from October 9 to 15. Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Hon. Umar Garba, disclosed this during a press briefing at the commission’s headquarters in Sokoto, yesterday. Garba said the seven-day exercise would take place at the Registration Area (RA) level across the state, particularly in areas without security concerns, to enable voters verify their details ahead of the general election. He said the commission had already taken delivery of newly produced PVCs for the exercise, and had put in place necessary logistics for a hitch-free conduct of the display and distribution. According to the REC, the PVCs currently available for collection are exclusively for newly registered voters captured during the first phase of the last Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise. He, however, clarified that PVCs for requests relating to lost or damaged cards, updates, transfers, as well as those who registered during the second and third phases of the CVR, were not yet ready for collection. Garba assured the people that the commission would issue further information once the outstanding categories of PVCs were received and ready for distribution to their owners. He added that at the conclusion of the RA-level exercise on October 15, the distribution of PVCs would continue at INEC Local Government Area (LGA) offices across the 23 LGAs of the state for those who could not collect at the RA centres. He encouraged all registered voters in the state to visit their designated display locations within their respective Registration Areas between October 9 and 15 to cross-check their names, photographs, and other details, and report any errors or omissions through the prescribed channels.