2027 Elections: INEC requirements favour APC, roadblocks for ADC, says spokesperson

Mr Abdullahi stated this a day after opposition parties announced their rejection of the Electoral Amendment Law 2026.

Olumayowa Samuel • February 27, 2026

Bolaji Abdullahi [Credit; TheCable]

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has expressed dissatisfaction with the revised elections timetable and schedule of activities, released on Friday by the Independent National Electoral Commission, ahead of the 2027 elections.

Speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Friday, spokesperson for the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the requirement that political parties must have a digitalised membership register in all 36 states within the next 32 days is impossible for opposition political parties to meet.

Mr Abdullahi said, “It is very clear, when INEC released its timetable, that some of the requirements we will need to meet to be able to field candidates for the 2027 election, as contained in the Electoral Act, are almost impossible for us to meet.

“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 convention.

“It is almost practically impossible for us to do this. We know for a fact that the ruling party, APC, commenced membership registration in February 2025 and actually hired consultants to help them develop a digital membership register ahead of the 2027 election. What took them more than one year to do is what they expect us to do within one month.”

Mr Abdullahi stated this a day after opposition parties, at a joint press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, announced their rejection of the Electoral Amendment Law 2026, signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, which approved the adoption of both electronic and manual transmission of results over fears of network failure.

According to the revised election timetable, the presidential and National Assembly elections, earlier fixed for February 20, 2027, were brought forward to January 16, 2027, while governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections, initially slated for March 6, 2027, were also brought forward to February 6, 2027.

The changes in the election dates followed the repeal of the Electoral Act 2022 and the enactment of the Electoral Act 2026.

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