2027: INEC BEGINS REVIEW OF GUIDELINES IN UYO, PLANS STRICTER RULES FOR POLITICAL PARTIES
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By: Muftau Fatimo
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has launched a comprehensive review of its Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, underscoring its commitment to strengthening party operations and enforcing stricter compliance standards ahead of the 2027 General Election.
The three-day Technical Review Workshop, which began on Wednesday, 4th March 2026, in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, is supported by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD). The workshop follows the enactment of the Electoral Act 2026 and the Commission’s release of the Revised Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2027 General Election.
Opening the sessions, INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, described the initiative as a crucial institutional realignment designed to align the Commission’s regulatory framework with the new legal provisions.
“We meet at a watershed moment in our democratic journey,” the Chairman said, noting that the Electoral Act 2026, assented to in February, has recalibrated statutory timelines and condensed the operational window for electoral activities.
Under the revised timetable, the Presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for Saturday, 16th January 2027, while Governorship and State Assembly elections will hold on Saturday, 6th February 2027.
Prof. Amupitan emphasised that the ongoing review is not a routine administrative exercise but a deliberate effort to sanitise party operations and embed higher standards of accountability.
“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,” he stated.
The Chairman identified the conduct of party primaries as a focal point of the reforms. 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.
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“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,” he cautioned.
He further expressed concern over recurring leadership tussles and intra-party disputes that frequently end up in court, often with INEC joined as a party.
“Each day spent defending avoidable intra-party disputes is a day diverted from our primary mandate of election planning,” Prof. Amupitan said, stressing that while the Commission remains neutral, it will enforce compliance firmly and consistently.
According to him, the revised 2026 Guidelines will introduce stricter benchmarks for membership documentation, financial transparency, and the inclusion of women, youth and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). He also referenced 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.
Anchoring the Commission’s authority on Section 160 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Section 151 of the Electoral Act 2026, the Chairman assured stakeholders that INEC would remain open, accountable and guided strictly by the law.
The sovereign will of the Nigerian people must be protected at every stage, from candidate nomination through to the final declaration of results,” he emphasized.
In his address, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Election and Party Monitoring Committee (EPMC), Dr. Baba Bila, described the ongoing review as both strategic and timely, marking the first comprehensive regulatory exercise since the passage of the Electoral Act 2026.
He noted that the 2022 Regulations and Guidelines—which govern party registration and de-registration, internal party operations, conduct of primaries, campaigns, and campaign finance reporting—require both structural refinement and substantive amendments to align with the new statutory provisions.
“The timing for reviewing and updating the Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties could not be more appropriate,” Dr. Bila stated.
Speaking as well, the Country Director of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) Nigeria, Mr. Adebowale Olorunmola, reaffirmed the organisation’s technical partnership with INEC.
“With the recent enactment of the Electoral Act 2026, it is essential to strengthen the guidelines and regulations to ensure the Act is effectively implemented,” he said, urging stakeholders to help political parties develop into inclusive and internally democratic institutions.
The Commission affirmed that the review’s outcome will result in a clearer, more coherent regulatory framework to guide political parties and uphold the integrity of the 2027 General Election.
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