As NDC Warns Opposition Parties Against Celebrating Court Ruling on INEC Timetable
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it is yet to receive a copy of the Federal High Court judgment that nullified key aspects of its revised timetable for the 2027 general elections, and cannot take a position on the ruling until the full judgment is studied even as political parties have produced sharply divided reactions, with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) calling it a vindication, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) describing it as a breather, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) warning that the judgment is a “Greek Gift” capable of instigating explosions within opposition parties.
The reactions come as INEC also faces questions about the credibility of the APC presidential primary result, which produced 10,999,162 votes for President Bola Tinubu over 2.2 million more than he received in the 2023 general election nationwide and amid a viral video from the ward of Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu in Abia State showing a counter jumping from 1,015 to 7,400 in seconds while walking past a short queue of voters. INEC has not publicly commented on the viral counting video, and the APC presidential primary result stands as declared.
INEC: “We Are Still Waiting”
Speaking with Nigerian Tribune in a telephone interview, the INEC Deputy Director of Publicity, Wilfred Osilama Ifogah, indicated that it would take time before the commission could take a position on the judgment delivered by Justice M.G. Umar in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2026.
“The commission is yet to receive a copy of the ruling. So, it is when they probably get it, you will now know what the commission will say about it. They can’t act until they get it. For now, we are still waiting for it,” Ifogah stated.
His position corroborated what INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, said in a separate interview on Friday, where she confirmed that the commission had not yet received the full judgment and would not comment until it had studied the ruling.
The commission’s cautious stance leaves open the critical question of whether INEC will appeal the judgment, revise its timetable to comply with the court’s orders, or seek a stay of execution while pursuing an appeal. Until INEC obtains and reviews the full judgment, the commission’s timetable remains technically in force — but the court’s ruling has already created a parallel legal reality that political parties are interpreting and responding to in divergent ways.
ADC: “A Vindication of Our Position”
The ADC, which has been the most vocal critic of INEC’s timetable guidelines and the most enthusiastic beneficiary of the court’s ruling, reiterated its welcome of the judgment but disclosed that it would not alter its own internal timetable despite the expanded windows now available.
ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, restated the party’s position that the ruling vindicated its long-held objection that INEC’s guidelines contradicted both the Electoral Act and the Constitution.
“We have said that we welcome the judgment and that it is a vindication of our position that the guidelines contradict the law and that it contradicts the Constitution. It now creates opportunities and allows more flexibility,” Abdullahi stated.
However, in a notable caveat, Abdullahi disclosed that the ADC was not likely to change its own schedule despite the ruling. “We are not likely to change our timetable because of that. Maybe that is a new perspective. We are not likely to change our timetable because of that,” he said.
The ADC maintained its earlier prediction of imminent defections from the APC: “We expect that there will be movement among parties in coming days,” Abdullahi added.
The ADC’s decision to maintain its existing timetable while celebrating the expanded flexibility for others suggests that the party is more interested in the judgment’s political implications specifically, the potential inflow of disaffected APC members than in using the extended window for its own internal processes.
PDP (Turaki Camp): “A Breather”
The Tanimu Turaki-led Interim National Working Committee (INWC) of the PDP welcomed the court judgment, framing it as an opportunity to deepen participation rather than a cause for alarm.
According to the faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the judgment had “beefed up the confidence of the PDP” to open up space for more members to purchase and submit forms and participate in the remaining phases of the electioneering process.
The Turaki camp went further than merely welcoming the ruling, using it as a platform to criticise both the Electoral Act 2026 and INEC’s implementation of it. The party argued that the Electoral Act itself was flawed in several respects by breaching the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and that INEC, in trying to apply the law, arrogated powers to itself that went beyond its constitutional bounds specifically by shortening the timeframe for the submission of party membership registers and the conduct of primaries.
“There are certain parts of the Electoral Act that are an affront on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. But the interpretation, again, that INEC also tried to constrict the time more the timetable was tight, and most political parties were complaining,” Ememobong stated.
