Ahead of party primaries scheduled between 23rd April and 30th May, 2026, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned political parties against conducting non-transparent nomination processes.
This, it said, could undermine public trust and destabilise the electoral process.
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.
He explained that if candidates emerge through opaque processes, the country might face voter apathy and an explosion of pre-election litigation.
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.
According to him, We meet at a watershed moment in our democratic journey. 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.”
“With primaries scheduled between 23rd April and 30th May 2026, he warned that 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 ended 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.
“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.