2027: INEC commence review of guidelines for party primaries, campaign finance

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced a comprehensive review of its Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, signalling a fresh push to tighten party operations and strengthen compliance ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The three-day technical workshop, which began on 4 March 2026, is supported by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) and follows the recent enactment of the Electoral Act 2026, alongside the release of the commission’s revised timetable for the 2027 polls.

INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, SAN, described the exercise as a necessary institutional realignment designed to harmonise the commission’s regulatory framework with the new electoral law.

He noted that the Electoral Act 2026, signed into law in February, has recalibrated statutory timelines and compressed the operational window for electoral activities.

Under the revised schedule, presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on 16 January 2027, while governorship and State Assembly elections are fixed for 6 February 2027.

According to Amupitan, the review goes beyond administrative updates and aims to embed stronger accountability mechanisms within party operations.

“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 23 April and 30 May 2026, he warned that non-transparent nomination processes could undermine public trust and destabilise the electoral process.

“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 also raised concerns over recurring leadership disputes within political parties, many of which end up in court and frequently involve INEC as a litigant.

While reaffirming the commission’s neutrality, Amupitan stressed that compliance would be enforced 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 remain sacrosanct from the point of candidate nomination to the final declaration of results,” he said.

Also speaking, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Election and Party Monitoring Committee (EPMC), Baba Bila, described the review as strategic and timely, noting that it is the first major regulatory update following the passage of the Electoral Act 2026.

He explained that the 2022 Regulations and Guidelines, which cover party registration and de-registration, party operations, conduct of primaries, campaigns and campaign finance reporting, require both structural refinement and substantive amendments to reflect the new statutory provisions.

“The review and updating of the Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties could not have come at a better time than now,” Dr Bila said.

The Country Director of WFD Nigeria, Adebowale Olorunmola, reaffirmed the organisation’s technical partnership with INEC and stressed the need for improved guidelines to fully operationalise the new law.

According to the commission, the outcome of the review will produce a clearer and more coherent regulatory framework to guide political parties and strengthen the credibility of the 2027 general election.