The recent Supreme Court judgment restoring key provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 has raised new legal questions about the party defections of prominent Nigerian politicians, including Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. On May 3, 2026, Obi and Kwankwaso formally joined the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) after leaving the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The Supreme Court's September 24 decision has reopened questions about the legal consequences of party switching where membership records submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are involved.
The Supreme Court's unanimous decision, led by Justice Adamu Jauro, allowed INEC's appeal and restored Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7), and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, which had earlier been invalidated by the Court of Appeal. The restored provisions require political parties to operate with membership registers submitted to INEC and restrict participation in party primaries to members whose names appear on the relevant register. This development has significant implications for Obi and Kwankwaso's defections, as their names may still be on the ADC's membership register.
According to Obono-obla, a crucial factual question is whether the names and National Identification Numbers (NINs) of those who moved from ADC to NDC were properly removed from the former party's register before the new register was submitted to INEC. If the same individual remained on both registers, Obono-obla contends that the restored statutory regime could create a dual-membership problem. This raises questions about the validity of Obi and Kwankwaso's membership in the NDC and their eligibility to participate in the party's primaries.
However, the Supreme Court judgment itself did not determine the membership status, nomination status, or eligibility of Obi, Kwankwaso, or any other individual who moved from ADC to NDC. The case before the apex court concerned the validity of provisions of the Electoral Act dealing with party membership registers and candidate nomination procedures. Any claim that Obi, Kwankwaso, or another politician is personally disqualified would therefore require separate examination of the individual's membership records, resignation process, nomination, and the applicable procedural rules.
Obono-obla argues that a lawful exit from a party should involve more than a public announcement or the collection of a new party membership card. He contends that the departing politician should submit a written resignation, secure acknowledgement from the former party, obtain removal from its digital membership register, and complete the necessary documentation before being entered into the register of the new party. The question now is whether such procedures were completed by those who defected on May 3.
The controversy is further complicated by Nigeria's constitutional framework governing pre-election disputes. Challenges concerning party membership and nomination generally fall within the pre-election arena, meaning that the identity and legal standing of any person bringing such a challenge could become decisive. This could make the question less straightforward than a simple declaration that a politician's candidacy is automatically void.
The Supreme Court's judgment has settled the validity of the statutory framework, but the unresolved question is how that framework applies to individual politicians whose party switches occurred before the judgment. For Obi, Kwankwaso, and others who moved on May 3, the next chapter may therefore turn less on the announcement made at the NDC secretariat and more on what the parties' membership databases showed when the registers were submitted to INEC.
Key points
- The Supreme Court's ruling restored key provisions of the Electoral Act 2026, potentially impacting the party defections of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso.
- Obi and Kwankwaso's defections may face scrutiny due to concerns about their membership records and the possibility of dual membership.
- The Supreme Court's judgment did not determine the individual membership status or eligibility of Obi, Kwankwaso, or other politicians who switched parties.
