The Court of Appeal in Abuja has validated the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) guidelines for the conduct of the 2027 general election.
In a unanimous judgment on Thursday, the appellate court set aside the May 20 judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which had nullified the guidelines and barred their implementation.
In the lead judgment prepared by Justice Adebukola Banjoko but read by Justice Okon Abang, the Court of Appeal held that the Youth Party (YP), which instituted the case against INEC, lacked the legal standing (locus standi) to do so.
Justice Banjoko said the party failed to explain how the guidelines affected it or its members in the conduct of its primary election for the nomination of candidates for the 2027 poll.
The court also held that the YP failed to establish how the guidelines affected the submission of its nominated candidates to INEC.
The three justices unanimously agreed that Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court, who had nullified the guidelines on May 20 on the grounds that they violated provisions of the Electoral Act, erred and occasioned a miscarriage of justice.
INEC, which filed the appeal against the High Court decision, had argued that the lower court erred in law by failing to pronounce on the jurisdictional issue of whether the suit was hypothetical and academic, and by denying the appellant fair hearing.
INEC’s lead counsel, Dr Alex Izinyom, had asked the Court of Appeal to set aside the Federal High Court judgment that nullified part of the election guidelines put in place by the agency for the 2027 general election.
