Why APC’s INEC Notice and Membership Register Are Different Legal Requirements

My view is that two separate 21-day requirements under the Electoral Act are being confused in discussions of the recent Supreme Court judgment. Section 82(1) requires political parties to give INEC at least 21 days’ notice before a convention, congress or primary. APC’s 20 April 2026 letter, in my view, was a notice of its proposed primaries. It was not the submission of its membership register. The membership-register requirement is contained in Section 77(4), which requires parties to make their registers available to INEC no later than 21 days before their primaries, congresses or conventions. INEC reportedly confirmed that APC submitted its register on 8 May 2026. Section 77(5) makes the key issue clear: only people whose names appear in the submitted register can vote or be voted for. Since APC moved its presidential primary to 30 May 2026, the relevant question is whether a participant’s name was in the register submitted to INEC, not whether they joined the party 21 days before the original notice of primary.

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