OPINION: Supreme Court's Affirmation of Sections 77 and 84 of Electoral Act 2026: The End of Party Lawlessness and Political Nomadism

By Okoi Obono-Obla

The Supreme Court of Nigeria's decision in Zenith Labour Party versus INEC delivered on 24 September 2026, validating and giving judicial approbation to the provisions of Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, is heartwarming, progressive and a clear affirmation of the centrality of the Court in contributing to the expansion of the frontiers of the country's electoral and constitutional jurisprudence and using case law to strengthen the country's democracy. It also enhances the regulatory powers, authority and supervisory role of INEC over political parties, to make them alive to their responsibilities, which in turn will impact positively on the political system.

It is now settled law that political parties must maintain a digitalised register of membership and must submit that register to INEC not later than 21 days before it holds a primary, congress, meeting or convention.

Under Section 77(5), only members whose names appear in the membership register submitted to INEC within the stipulated period are eligible to vote in such primaries, congresses, conventions or meetings. Under Section 77(6), a political party shall not use any other register for its primaries, congresses and conventions except the register submitted to the Commission. Under Section 77(7), a political party that fails to submit its membership register within the prescribed period shall not be eligible to field a candidate for election. Under Section 84(2), the procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for elective positions shall be by direct primaries or consensus.

It is also settled that any member of a political party whose name is not contained in the digitalised register submitted to INEC cannot vote or be voted for in a primary election or in a congress, convention or meeting convened to elect national, state, local government area and ward executives or to nominate candidates for general elections.

The implications are far-reaching when viewed against the present membership strength of the major parties. As of early 2026, the APC National Chairman disclosed that the APC has 12.9 million verified registered members submitted to INEC, while according to him the PDP has about 2.4 million, the Labour Party 1.3 million, and the newly registered Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) about 700,000. The Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the PDP itself claimed 4,264,675 members as at 31st March 2026. No verifiable figure has been published for the APM.

This underscores that membership registration is no longer for fun but for serious business. All parties must now take it seriously and periodically update their registers, weed out dead members and substitute them with new ones, just as INEC periodically updates its voters' roll and register. A bloated, fictitious or outdated register will no longer suffice.

This will bring orderliness, discipline and decorum to the way political parties in the country are managed. It will also bring an end to political nomadism and prostitution which we have experienced in every election season, as politicians, in a scramble for tickets, move from one party to another in a sort of rat race, throwing caution to the wind and moving opportunistically without the slightest regard for ideological commitment and principle, as if political parties are just special purpose vehicles for electoral contestation instead of institutions for the formulation of agendas to be implemented when elected and for leadership recruitment and nurturing.

Conclusion: The Supreme Court has spoken. The era of parties existing only on paper and of politicians holding no verifiable membership anywhere is over. Compliance with Sections 77 and 84 of the Electoral Act 2026 is now a condition precedent for valid candidacy. Parties that fail to keep a credible, verified and up-to-date register do so at their own peril.

 *Okoi Obono-Obla

Legal Practitioner and Public Affairs Analyst*