2027: Supreme Court Ruling Puts Omo-Agege, Pantami, Other Defectors, Party Waivers Under Fresh Legal Spotlight

Reloaded News Desk

The Supreme Court’s restoration of key provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 has opened a fresh legal question over politicians who changed political parties after participating in, or losing, earlier party primaries and subsequently sought tickets under their new platforms.

The ruling, delivered on Thursday by a seven-member panel, restored Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act after setting aside the Court of Appeal judgment that had voided the provisions.

The provisions place particular emphasis on party membership registers and the procedure for selecting candidates.

Under the restored framework, only members whose names appear in the membership register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) within the prescribed period can vote or be voted for at party primaries, congresses or conventions. A party is also prohibited from using a different register from the one submitted to INEC.

INEC’s 2026 Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties reflect the same requirement, stating that membership registers must be submitted to the Commission at least 21 days before party primaries, congresses or conventions.

The ruling has therefore revived questions surrounding politicians who lost primaries in one party and subsequently moved to another party in search of tickets.

One of the most prominent cases is former Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege.

Omo-Agege contested the APC Delta Central senatorial primary in May 2026 but lost to incumbent Senator Ede Dafinone. He subsequently resigned from the APC and joined the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC). The NDC later granted him a waiver to contest its Delta Central senatorial ticket.

Former Delta State House of Assembly Speaker Victor Ochei followed a similar route, moving from the APC to the NDC and receiving a waiver to pursue the Delta North senatorial ticket.

The Supreme Court did not, however, rule that Omo-Agege, Ochei or any other individual mentioned in public debate is disqualified.

Their individual situations would depend on facts including the date they joined their new parties, the date the relevant party register was submitted to INEC, whether their names appeared on that register, the nature and timing of any waiver, and how the subsequent nomination was conducted.

Former Communications and Digital Economy Minister Isa Ali Pantami presents another distinct case.

Pantami moved into the PDP’s 2027 Gombe governorship contest, but his nomination has already become the subject of separate litigation. On September 24, the Federal High Court in Gombe nullified his emergence as PDP governorship candidate and ordered the party to conduct a fresh primary within 30 days. The case was brought by another PDP aspirant, Usman Garba, who challenged the process that produced Pantami.

The legal questions therefore go beyond defection itself.

Former Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, Senator Shehu Buba, and other politicians who moved to different parties following primary contests have also been identified in current reporting as cases that could attract legal scrutiny under the restored framework.

There is, however, an important counterargument.

A legal practitioner, Ekemini Udim, previously argued that the Electoral Act does not expressly prohibit a Nigerian from joining a political party after the submission of an earlier membership register. That interpretation means that the mere fact that somebody joined a party after its register was initially submitted does not, by itself, establish that the person cannot later become a candidate.

The issue is beyond the defection of the politician rather it is when did the politician join the new party, was the person on the party’s INEC-submitted register applicable to the nomination exercise, was a waiver granted, was the waiver consistent with the Electoral Act and the party’s rules, what nomination process did the party use, and was the resulting nomination validly submitted to INEC?

The Supreme Court has now settled the validity of the disputed statutory provisions. It has not settled every individual dispute that may arise from their application.

As the 2027 election process moves forward, the answers to those case-specific questions could determine whether some of the most prominent recent political defectors successfully retain their new party tickets or face fresh legal challenges.

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