2027: ADC rejects INEC’s revised election timetable

… accuses commission of conniving with APC

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) updated 2026–2027 electoral timetable, saying it contains boobytraps that could aid President Tinubu’s plot to be returned unopposed in 2027.

In the INEC election timetable announced on Thursday, the presidential and National Assembly elections earlier fixed for February 20, 2027, will now hold on Saturday, 16th January 2027.

In the same vein, a new date, Saturday, 6th February 2027, was announced for the Governorship and State Assemblies elections.

The ADC, in a statement, expressed strong reservations about provisions in Sections 77 and 82 of the Electoral Act 2026, which mandated that political parties provide a comprehensive digital membership register of its members.

Checks by Tribune Online revealed that Section 77 places each political party under the obligation to maintain a digital register of its members; issue membership cards to each of them, and submit such a register to the INEC 21 days before the party primaries, congresses or conventions.

ALSO READ: JUST IN: INEC amends 2027 general elections timetable to January 16, February 6

The statement signed by Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, claimed that the provisions give undue advantage to the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).

The statement maintained that the requirement for political parties to submit a comprehensive digital membership register by April 2, 2026, ahead of primaries scheduled between 23 April and 30 May 2026, creates a near impossible hurdle that could exclude other parties from fielding candidates.

“The African Democratic Congress (ADC) rejects the updated 2026–2027 electoral timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“What has been presented as a routine administrative schedule of the upcoming general elections is, in fact, a political instrument carefully structured to narrow democratic space and strengthen the hand of the incumbent administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“According to the timetable, party primaries are to be conducted between 23 April and 30 May 2026, just 55 to 92 days from today. However, what is more significant is that pursuant to Section 77(4) of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties are required to submit their digital membership registers to INEC not later than 2 April 2026.

“That is only 34 days away. Section 77(7) further provides that any party that fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated time “shall not be eligible to field a candidate for that election.”

“These are not housekeeping rules. They are deliberately constructed barriers to exclude opposition from partaking in the coming election.

“It is significant to note also that Section 77(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 prescribes that the digital register of members must contain their name, sex, date of birth, address, state, local government, ward, polling unit, National Identification Number (NIN), and photograph in both hard and soft copies, while Section 77(6) prohibits the use of any pre-existing register other than the one that contains the specific information above.

“According to this law, failure to meet these requirements would result in disqualification.

“What makes this requirement of digital membership particularly insidious is that the ruling party had commenced the process of this registration since February 2025, long before it became a requirement of the law. This is not a product of foresight, but insider knowledge. They knew what was coming.

“They therefore had one whole year to carry out an exercise that they expect other political parties to execute in one month, during which they must collect, process and collate vast digital data and transmit the same to INEC by the deadline under the threat of total exclusion. This is more or less a practical impossibility.

“Democratic competition is based on a level-playing field that does not give any advantage to the contestants. A system where one party takes advantage of incumbency to give itself a one-year head-start on a requirement that other parties only became aware of when it is almost too late is a rigged and corrupt system.

“The ADC has joined other opposition political parties to reject the corrupted Electoral Act 2026. This INEC time-table, which is based on the said law, therefore, stands equally rejected for the same reason that, put together, they appear designed to serve President Tinubu’s automatic self-succession project.

“Let it be clear: ADC will not do anything that will appear to confer legitimacy on a fraudulent system. We are reviewing our options and will make this known in the coming days.

“We call on civil society, democratic stakeholders, and patriotic Nigerians across party lines to scrutinise this timetable and join us in demanding fairness, because no democracy can endure if the rules that govern it are written to suit pre-determined outcomes.”