The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected the revised 2026–2027 general election timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), describing it as a politically biased schedule designed to favor the re-election agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC’s national publicity secretary, stated in a statement on Friday that the Electoral Act 2026’s additional timelines and compliance requirements make it nearly difficult for opposition parties to register candidates.
The 2027 Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections were originally set for March 6, 2027, while INEC initially scheduled the 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections for February 20, 2027.
However, some Muslim stakeholders objected to the schedule, pointing out that the dates fell during Ramadan in 2027.
In response to the concerns, the National Assembly changed Clause 28 of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, allowing INEC to modify the election dates by lowering the mandatory election notification time from 360 to 300 days.
The elections for the governorship and state houses of assembly will now take place on February 6, 2027, while the presidential and National Assembly elections will now take place on January 16, 2027, according to a revised schedule announced by INEC on Thursday and signed by its chairman, Joash Amupitan.
The ADC responded by claiming that opposition parties are essentially excluded from the process due to the need that political parties provide a complete digital membership registry by April 2, 2026.
The party stated: “The African Democratic Congress rejects the updated 2026–2027 electoral timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“What has been presented as a routine administrative schedule of the upcoming general elections is, in fact, a political instrument carefully structured to narrow democratic space and strengthen the incumbent administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“According to the timetable, party primaries are to be conducted between April 23 and May 30, 2026, just 55 to 92 days from today.
“However, more significant is that, pursuant to Section 77(4) of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties are required to submit their digital membership registers to INEC not later than April 2, 2026.
“That is only about 34 days away. Section 77(7) further provides that any party that fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated time shall not be eligible to field a candidate.
“These are not routine administrative rules but are deliberately constructed barriers designed to exclude the opposition from participating in the election.”
The party also pointed out that Section 77(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 mandates that the digital register of members include the following information in both hard copy and soft copy: name, sex, date of birth, address, state, local government, ward, polling unit, National Identification Number (NIN), and photograph.
Additionally, Section 77(6) forbids the use of any pre-existing register that does not include the specified information. It cautioned that noncompliance would result in disqualification.
Given that the ruling All Progressives Congress started its registration process in February 2025, well before the requirement became necessary, the ADC questioned the fairness of the digital membership requirement.
“It is not a product of foresight but insider advantage. They knew what was coming. They therefore had one full year to carry out an exercise that other political parties are expected to complete in one month, during which they must collect, process, collate, and transmit large volumes of digital data to INEC under the threat of exclusion. This is practically impossible.
“Democratic competition is based on a level playing field that does not give any contestant an undue advantage. A system where one party exploits incumbency to gain a one-year head start on a requirement that other parties only became aware of when it was nearly too late is a rigged system.”
The ADC stated that it has joined other opposition parties in opposing the Electoral Act 2026 and that it also opposes the INEC schedule because it seems to be intended to forward what it called a self-succession agenda.
“Let it be clear that ADC will not take any action that appears to confer legitimacy on a fraudulent system. We are reviewing our options and will make our position known in the coming days,” the party said.
The party emphasized that democracy cannot endure when election laws are designed to produce predefined results and urged civil society organizations, democratic stakeholders, and Nigerians to examine the schedule and demand fairness.
