Political parties have raised objections to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s draft 2026 regulations, cautioning that certain provisions could compromise the integrity of the 2027 general elections.
At a consultative meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, March 24, party leaders under the Inter-Party Advisory Council criticised requirements including mandatory direct primaries and the submission of membership registers with National Identification Numbers within a short timeframe, calling the provisions impractical and exclusionary.
IPAC National Chairman Dr Yusuf Dantalle warned that failure to address critical issues in the Electoral Act 2026 could derail the upcoming polls.
“Critical issues, if not urgently addressed, could jeopardise the success of the 2027 General Election,” he said.
Dantalle described the law as a setback rather than progress for Nigerian democracy.
“Rather than advancing our democratic journey, it represents a significant regression,” he stated.
He argued that the choice of how parties select candidates should remain an internal matter and called on the National Assembly to reinstate indirect primaries as an option.
“The choice of candidate selection methods remains an internal affair of political parties,” he said.
The IPAC chairman also pushed for mandatory electronic transmission of results, describing it as a non-negotiable demand. “This is a fundamental demand of the Nigerian people,” he added.
Dantalle emphasised the need for an Electoral Offences Commission and stronger action against electoral malpractice to rebuild public trust.
“The credibility of the commission is at stake, and public confidence hinges on the assurance that every vote will count,” he said.
He noted that the international community would be watching the 2027 elections closely.
Earlier, INEC Chairman Prof Joash Amupitan presented the revised draft regulations and stressed that credible elections start well before polling day.
“Credible elections begin long before polling day; they begin in the transparency of the processes that produce the candidates,” he said.
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Amupitan explained that the guidelines were developed after reviewing the 2022 regulations and drawing on empirical research, including the Political Party Performance Index created with support from the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.
He said the review uncovered a “disturbing gap between party constitutions and grassroots realities.”
The new framework covers areas such as party registration, internal operations, primaries, campaign activities, financial transparency, and deregistration.
“These guidelines aim to sanitise party primaries and end opaque processes that impose unpopular candidates, fuelling voter apathy and avoidable litigation,” he said.
With the presidential and National Assembly elections fixed for January 16, 2027, and governorship and state assembly polls for February 6, Amupitan acknowledged the limited time available.
“We are operating within a compressed timetable, which demands what I call surgical precision,” he noted.
The INEC chairman said the draft includes benchmarks to improve participation of women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
He urged parties to see the regulations as protective measures rather than obstacles.
“By sharpening these rules, we are protecting the sovereign will of the Nigerian people from nomination to the final declaration of results,” he said.
Amupitan reaffirmed the commission’s neutrality while signalling a more active stance on democratic standards.
“INEC remains a neutral umpire, but we are no longer passive observers to the erosion of democratic values,” he added.