The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced a comprehensive review of its Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, in a move aimed at strengthening party operations and enforcing stricter compliance standards ahead of the 2027 General Election.
The 3 day Technical Review Workshop, which began on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, is being held with the support of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD).
The exercise follows the enactment of the Electoral Act 2026 and the release of the Commission’s Revised Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2027 polls.
Declaring the workshop open, INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, SAN, described the review as a critical institutional realignment designed to harmonise the Commission’s regulatory framework with the new legal provisions.
“We meet at a watershed moment in our democratic journey,” he said, noting that the Electoral Act 2026, assented to in February, has recalibrated statutory timelines and compressed the operational window for electoral activities.
Under the revised timetable, Presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while Governorship and State Assembly elections will hold on February 6, 2027.
Amupitan stressed that the review goes beyond routine administrative adjustments, describing it as a deliberate effort to strengthen accountability and sanitise party operations.
“We are aligning our Regulations and Guidelines with the 2026 Act to ensure that our electoral architecture is not only robust in theory but effective in practice,” he said.
He identified the conduct of party primaries as a key focus of the reforms. With primaries slated for April 23 to May 30, 2026, the INEC chairman warned that non-transparent nomination processes could erode public confidence and trigger pre election disputes.
“The quality of internal party democracy has a direct bearing on the election conducted by INEC. Opaque processes often result in voter apathy and increased litigation,” he cautioned.
The chairman also raised concerns over recurring intra party conflicts and leadership disputes that frequently end up in court, often involving the Commission.
“Each day spent defending avoidable intra-party disputes is a day diverted from our core mandate of election planning,” he said, adding that while INEC remains neutral, it will enforce compliance firmly and consistently.
According to him, the revised 2026 Guidelines will introduce stricter benchmarks for membership documentation, financial transparency, and the inclusion of women, youth and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). He referenced Sections 83(5) and (6) of the Electoral Act 2026, which remove the jurisdiction of courts over certain internal party matters.
Citing Section 160 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 151 of the Electoral Act 2026, Amupitan assured stakeholders that the Commission would remain open, accountable and guided strictly by the law.
“The sovereign will of the Nigerian people must remain sacrosanct from the point of candidate nomination to the final declaration of results,” he said.
Also speaking, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Election and Party Monitoring Committee (EPMC), Baba Bila, described the review as strategic and timely, being the first major regulatory update since the passage of the Electoral Act 2026.
He explained that the existing 2022 Regulations and Guidelines covering party registration and de-registration, party operations, conduct of primaries, campaigns and campaign finance reporting require structural and substantive amendments to align with the new law.
“The review and updating of the Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties could not have come at a better time,” Bila said.
In his remarks, the Country Director of WFD Nigeria, Adebowale Olorunmola, reaffirmed the organisation’s technical support to INEC, noting the need to strengthen the guidelines to give full effect to the Electoral Act 2026.
The Commission said the outcome of the review will produce a clearer and more coherent regulatory framework to guide political parties and safeguard the integrity of the 2027 General Election.