2027: Anxiety grips Chinda, Omo-Agege, others as INEC holds stakeholders’ meeting

All eyes will be on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, today, Tuesday, as the commission holds a national stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja to mark 100 days to the 2027 general elections.

INEC said the meeting will provide updates on the voters’ register, candidate nominations, election logistics and measures being adopted to protect the integrity of the polls.

This is even as the political fate of several high-profile candidates who changed parties ahead of the 2027 general elections may come under renewed scrutiny.

DAILY POST reports that among those whose candidacies have attracted attention are Rivers State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Kingsley Chinda, Delta Central senatorial candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Ovie Omo-Agege; former Cross River State governor and Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, presidential candidate, Donald Duke and former Delta State House of Assembly Speaker, Victor Ochei.

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The issue stems from a recent Supreme Court judgment which restored key provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 dealing with political party membership registers and the nomination of candidates.

Recall that the apex court, in a unanimous judgment delivered on September 25, upheld INEC’s appeal and restored Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act, provisions which had earlier been struck out by the Court of Appeal.

The development has triggered questions over the eligibility of politicians who moved to new political parties after their previous parties had concluded, or were in the process of concluding, their nomination exercises.

DAILY POST reported that the controversy followed a Federal High Court judgment delivered in May, which invalidated aspects of INEC’s timetable for the 2027 elections.

The court had ruled that INEC could not shorten statutory periods provided by the Electoral Act for political parties to conduct primaries and submit, withdraw or replace candidates.

It also faulted INEC’s deadline for political parties to submit their membership registers.

The judgment created a window of uncertainty in the political process, with politicians changing parties and seeking fresh opportunities to contest under different platforms.

However, the legal position subsequently changed.

On July 16, the Court of Appeal overturned the Federal High Court’s decision and restored INEC’s timetable, holding that the commission acted within its powers in issuing the electoral guidelines.

The Supreme Court went further in September by restoring the disputed provisions of the Electoral Act concerning membership registers and candidate nominations.

Although INEC has not indicated that it intends to announce the disqualification of any particular candidate at the meeting, the commission’s position on nominations could provide important clues about what lies ahead for candidates whose emergence followed controversial defections, waivers and party primaries.

Chinda’s Rivers battle

In Rivers State, the case of Chinda, an ally of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, is one of the most closely watched.

Chinda emerged as the APC’s governorship candidate on May 21, 2026, shortly after the Federal High Court judgment that had invalidated parts of INEC’s electoral timetable.

The Supreme Court judgment did not expressly disqualify Chinda or any other candidate.

DAILY POST reports that supporters of the Rivers APC candidate have argued that the apex court ruling does not automatically invalidate his nomination.

Omo-Agege’s NDC ticket

In Delta State, Omo-Agege’s case presents another significant test.

The former Deputy Senate President contested the APC’s Delta Central senatorial primary in May but lost to Ede Dafinone.

He resigned from the APC on May 22 and subsequently joined the NDC, which granted him a waiver to contest its Delta Central senatorial primary.

He eventually secured the ticket through a consensus arrangement.

The question now is whether the restored provisions of the Electoral Act could affect such a nomination, particularly in relation to the party’s membership register and the statutory requirements governing participation in party primaries.

Omo-Agege is not alone.

Ochei, who also left the APC after its nomination process and joined the NDC, received a waiver and secured the party’s Delta North senatorial ticket.

His candidacy could, therefore, face similar questions.

Supreme Court judgment does not automatically invalidate candidates’ nominations — Lawyer

A human rights lawyer, Maximus Ugwuoke told DAILY POST that the recent Supreme Court judgment on provisions of the Electoral Act does not automatically invalidate nominations or disqualify candidates whose party primaries were conducted while the affected provisions were inoperative.

Ugwuoke stated this in an interview on Monday while commenting on the likely implications of the judgment for candidates and political parties ahead of the 2027 general election.

He said the judgment had restored the legal operation of the affected provisions, particularly those relating to party membership registers and the conduct of party primaries.

According to him, however, restoring the provisions of the law should not be interpreted as automatically declaring individual nominations invalid.

“The Supreme Court judgment should not be interpreted as automatically invalidating all nominations or disqualifying all candidates whose primaries were conducted while the affected provisions of the Electoral Act were inoperative,” he said.

Ugwuoke said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would have to examine the circumstances surrounding each affected nomination before determining the impact of the judgment.

He listed the applicable legal position at the time of the primaries, the party’s membership register, the procedure adopted for the primary and relevant statutory timelines as factors that would need to be considered.

“In my view, the crucial issue tomorrow is not simply whether INEC will ‘review the candidates’ list’, but the legal basis and extent of any such review,” he said.

The lawyer cautioned against assuming that the Supreme Court judgment had created grounds for a blanket cancellation of nominations.

“A blanket cancellation of nominations cannot be assumed merely from the Supreme Court judgment,” he added.

Ugwuoke maintained that while the Supreme Court had restored the statutory rules, the effect on candidates who had already emerged from party primaries would depend on the specific facts of each case and the proper application of the Electoral Act.

“In short, the Supreme Court has restored the statutory rules; it has not automatically declared every previously concluded nomination invalid,” he said.

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