The Independent National Electoral Commission has challenged a recent court ruling that voided its directive requiring political parties to submit their membership registers and databases by May 10 as a condition for participating in the 2027 general elections.

On Monday, the electoral body, through its lawyer Alex Izinyon, filed an appeal before the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal seeking to overturn the judgement delivered by the lower court.

The appeal follows a decision by the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court which restrained INEC from enforcing the guideline, ruling that the commission could not impose deadlines that conflict with provisions of the Electoral Act.

Justice Muhammed Umar had last Thursday delivered judgement in a suit instituted by the Youth Party.

The court held that INEC must comply with the timeline provided under Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, which requires political parties to submit details of their candidates not later than 120 days before an election.

According to the judgement, the electoral commission lacked the authority to shorten the statutory period through its own guidelines for the 2027 elections.

The ruling effectively nullified INEC’s May 10 deadline for the submission of party membership registers and databases, with the court maintaining that any earlier deadline would amount to an unlawful limitation of the period already guaranteed by law.