By Achile Danjuma
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) newly released timetable for the 2026-2027 general elections, describing it as a “political instrument” designed to benefit the incumbent administration.
In a statement issued on Friday, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, alleged that the schedule contains deliberately obstructive provisions that could exclude opposition parties from participating in the upcoming elections.
According to the timetable, political parties are required to submit digital membership registers to INEC by April 2, 2026—just 34 days from now. Abdullahi warned that Section 77(7) of the Electoral Act 2026 stipulates that any party failing to meet this deadline “shall not be eligible to field a candidate for that election.”
“This is not a product of foresight, but insider knowledge,” Abdullahi said. “The ruling party had commenced the process of this registration since February 2025, long before it became a requirement of the law.”
The ADC spokesman noted that Section 77(2) of the Electoral Act mandates that registers contain detailed information including names, National Identification Numbers (NIN), photographs, and complete address details of all members—data that must be submitted in both hard and soft copies.
“What makes this requirement particularly insidious is that the ruling party had one whole year to carry out an exercise that they expect other political parties to execute in one month,” Abdullahi said. “This is more or less a practical impossibility.”
The party primaries are scheduled to hold between April 23 and May 30, 2026, approximately 55 to 92 days from today.
The ADC claimed the combined effect of the Electoral Act and the INEC timetable appears “designed to serve President Tinubu’s automatic self-succession project.”
“The ADC has joined other opposition political parties to reject the corrupted Electoral Act 2026,” Abdullahi said, adding that the party would not do anything that would “appear to confer legitimacy on a fraudulent system.”
He stated that the party is reviewing its options and would announce its position in the coming days.
The ADC called on civil society organisations, democratic stakeholders, and Nigerians to scrutinise the timetable and demand fairness.
“No democracy can endure if the rules that govern it are written to suit pre-determined outcomes,” Abdullahi said.