{
  "id": 9874386,
  "title": "Supreme Court Upholds INEC’s Appeal on Electoral Act",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/supreme-court-upholds-inecs-appeal-on-electoral-act",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-26T00:55:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "This Day",
    "slug": "this-day",
    "url": "https://www.thisdaylive.com/2026/09/26/supreme-court-upholds-inecs-appeal-on-electoral-act-%e2%81%a0%e2%81%a0%e2%81%a0/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Supreme Court has upheld the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) appeal against a decision of the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal had previously voided parts of the 2026 Electoral Act regarding political party primaries and membership registers, which favored the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP). A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Adamu Jauro, maintained that Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act are not in conflict with the 1999 Constitution. Additionally, the Supreme Court awarded INEC N2 million in costs against the ZLP. The court also dismissed two other appeals filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Youth Party, both of which had challenged the decisions of the Court of Appeal. The SDP appeal was dismissed on its merits, while the Youth Party's appeal was struck out due to it being filed one day late and being deemed incompetent. The Supreme Court stated that the appeal was invalid and incompetent because it was submitted after the deadline. The Federal High Court in Abuja had initially dismissed the ZLP's case on May 5, 2026, but INEC appealed to the Supreme Court, which upheld the appeal. The dispute centered on Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act, which the ZLP argued conflicted with the 1999 Constitution and infringed on the constitutional framework governing political parties.",
  "summary": "The Supreme Court has upheld the appeal by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against a Court of Appeal judgment that voided parts of the Electoral Act 2026 on political",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}