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Over INEC Revised Electoral Timetable
Members of the African Democratic Congress are very unhappy, with INEC right now. Reason? They see a big problem with the recently released INEC’s revised electoral timetable.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) is claiming that the revised election timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could make it almost impossible for the Opposition to field candidates for the 2027 general elections.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, shared his reservations during an appearance on Channels Television.
He argued that the new schedule and legal requirements are almost impossible to meet.
The ADC spokesman explained that the party’s position stems from its broader objection to the Electoral Act 2026, which he argued contains provisions that create significant compliance hurdles for smaller parties.
“The rejection of the timetable is only consequential to our rejection of the Electoral Act 2026. It is very clear when INEC released its timetable that some of the requirements we will need to meet to field candidates for the 2027 elections, as contained in the Act, are almost impossible for us to meet”, he said.
Abdullahi explained that the law requires parties to submit a fully digitalised membership register across all 36 states within a short timeframe when notifying INEC of congresses or conventions.
“What the law expects us to do is that within the next 32 days or so, we will have a digitalised membership register in all the 36 states of the federation that we will be able to submit to INEC while giving them notice of our congresses or conventions. It is almost practically impossible for us to do this”, he said.
The ADC spokesperson also compared the requirement with the preparations of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), alleging that the governing party had a significant head start.
“We know for a fact that the ruling APC has commenced membership registration since February 2025 and actually hired a consultant to help them in the process of developing a digital register ahead of the 2027 election. What took them more than one year to do is what they expect us to do in one month”, he said.
He described the provisions as deliberate obstacles designed to weaken opposition participation.
“Even in practical terms, these are booby traps set in the path of opposition parties; because if you look at the law, it says our failure to comply means we will not be able to field candidates for the election; It is all part of the game plan”, the ADC chieftain said.
So, the party maintains that the timetable, combined with the legal framework, is “not democratic” and could undermine the credibility of the 2027 polls if not reviewed.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected the Independent National Electoral Commission’s revised 2027 electoral timetable, saying it contains boobytraps that could aid President Tinubu’s plot to be returned unopposed in 2027.
Specifically, the party has flagged the new compliance requirements under Sections 77 and 82 of the Electoral Act 2026, which unfairly burden opposition parties while giving undue advantage to the ruling party.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said 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 ADC contended that with this requirement, among others contained in the obnoxious Electoral Act 2026, the so-called reform has effectively become an instrument of exclusion to clear the field for President Tinubu.
The party described the revised timetable as a “political instrument carefully structured to narrow democratic space and strengthen the hand of the incumbent administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.”
Referencing the timetable, the ADC said 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 house-keeping 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 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 party submitted.
The ADC has joined other opposition political parties to reject the corrupted Electoral Act 2026.
“This INEC time-table, which 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,” added the party.
The ADC called on civil society, democratic stakeholders, and patriotic Nigerians across party lines to scrutinize this timetable and join it in demanding fairness, because no democracy can endure if the rules that govern it are written to suit pre-determined outcomes.
