The lawyer’s comment follows the ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja which nullified the timetable issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission for party primaries and candidate nominations ahead of the 2027 elections.
A Legal Practitioner, Ekemini Udim, has clarified that the ‘Electoral Act’ does not prohibit anybody from joining a political party after the submission of the membership register to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Udim made this known during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Friday.
“If you look at this Section 77, it doesn’t say that anybody whose name is not in the register that is submitted to INEC 21 days before the primaries can not emerge as the candidate of that political party.
“So as long as this section has not clearly said anybody whose name is not here in the register that is to be submitted to INEC, that would mean that the person can join the political party even after the submission of this list to INEC, and that person will still be qualified to stand election,” he stated.
He however noted that the submission could be updated from time to time.
“You can continue to update the register with INEC from time to time because you can not shut citizens of the country out from registering as members of the political party. It’s a constitutional act and the Constitution has not provided any time limit for one to belong to a political party.
“That’s why some of us are worried about some provisions of the Electable Act this is the clear provision of Electoral Act that has the propensity of conflicting of the Constitution regarding the right of citizen in the country to join political parties of their choice at any time, you can join a political party, a day before, two days before the election because it is our constitutional act”, Udim added.
Speaking further on the breakfast show, Udim spoke on the rights of parties.
“So, Subsection 77, when side by side with the Constitution regarding the right to belong to a political party of your choice, when these two sections are placed side by side, I would say someone can still become a member of a political party at any time,” he added.
Section 77, Subsection(4) of the Electoral Act 2026 states that each political party shall make such a register available to the commission not more than 21 days before the date fixed for the party’s primaries, congresses, or conventions.
Section 29 of the Electoral Act also states that every political party shall, not later than 120 days before the date appointed for a general election under this act, submit to the commission.
The Federal High Court in Abuja had nullified the timetable issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission for party primaries and candidate nominations ahead of the 2027 elections, ruling that it conflicts with the Electoral Act 2026.
Justice Mohammed Umar also voided INEC’s May 10 deadline requiring political parties to submit membership registers and databases.
The judgment followed a suit filed by the Youth Party, which challenged the commission’s timelines as inconsistent with the law’s 120-day pre-election requirement.
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