Court dismisses NDC’s suit, says 2026 Electoral Act in order

The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC has lost the case it brought before the Court on Tuesday, challenging key provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 relating to the qualification and disqualification of candidates seeking elective offices.

Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Muhammed Umar, delivering judgement on Tuesday, said the contentious section of the Electoral Act as amended were, complimentary rather than contradictory, hence, the suit lack merit.

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The Judge said the provisions of the 1999 Constitution were not breached as claimed by the amendment.

CAPITAL POST reports that the NDC took the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi and the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, the Clerk to the National Assembly and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to court, seeking to declare Sections 138 and 77(5) of the Electoral Act 2026 unconstitutional.

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The said sections, the NDC argued were inconsistent with constitutional provisions governing the qualification and disqualification of candidates, praying for a declaration that questions relating to the qualification of candidates could still be entertained after elections had been concluded.

However, Justice Umar upheld the preliminary objections challenging the competence of the action, holding that the plaintiff was merely seeking an interpretation of constitutional and statutory provisions.

“The plaintiff is invoking the interpretative jurisdiction of this honourable court in respect of the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 on the one hand and the 1999 Constitution on the other hand,” the judge said.

The court further rejected the argument that attaching INEC’s election timetable to the originating summons transformed the matter into a pre-election dispute.

“The fact that the defendant’s timetable is attached cannot make the case that within the contemplation of Section 285 there is no deposition that raises questions as to the timetable,” Justice Umar held.

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