By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA— The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, dismissed as lacking in merit a suit the National Democratic Congress (NDC) filed to strike down section 138 of the Electoral Act 2026, which removed the issue of the qualification of a candidate as a ground for election petitions.
The NDC also challenged the legality of section 77(5) of the Electoral Act 2026, which stipulates that only persons whose names are contained in the register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not later than 21 days before the date fixed for primaries, congresses, or conventions would be eligible to vote.
While the court, in the judgment delivered by Justice Muhammed Umar, noted that the question on the legality of section 77(5) of the Electoral Act 2026 had since been taken care of by the Court of Appeal, it declined to invalidate section 138 of the Act as it was prayed to do by the NDC.
According to Justice Umar, contrary to the position of the NDC, there is no conflict between section 138 of the electoral law and the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
