- Safiu Kehinde
The Executive Director YIAGA Africa, Samson Itodo on Friday raised serious concerns over the absence of digital membership registers by many of the political parties wishing to field candidates for the 2027 general elections.
Itodo said with lack of acceptable digital registers, parties won’t be able to participate in the forthcoming general elections in the country.
The YIAGA Africa boss made this known in a statement issued on his official X handle.
He noted that the amended Electoral Act 2026 require each political party to submit its digital membership register to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) 21 days before the primaries slated to hold in April 23, 2026.
With non-compliance resulting to disqualification, Itodo held that most political parties do not possess a digital membership register that meets all requirements outlined in the Electoral Act 2026.
“In preparation for primaries commencing on April 23, 2026, the Electoral Act 2026 requires each political party to submit its digital membership register to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at least 21 days prior to any primary, congress, or convention.
“Non-compliance will result in disqualification from fielding candidates. The Electoral Act 2026 also prescribes the required format and content for the digital membership register.” He said.
Itodo highlighted the information required for the digital membership register as he urged the parties to promptly update, digitize, and verify their membership registers to ensure compliance.
“Each register must contain the following information for every member: name, sex, date of birth, address, state, local government area (LGA), ward, polling unit, National Identification Number (NIN), and photograph. Submissions must include both hard and soft copies in the specified format.
“Currently, most political parties do not possess a digital membership register that meets all requirements outlined in the Electoral Act 2026.
“Given the strict 21-day submission deadline and the limited time before primaries, parties are advised to promptly update, digitize, and verify their membership registers to ensure compliance.” He said.
Recall that the Senate and House of Representatives had earlier this month passed the 2026 Electoral Act amid rowdy sessions, particularly at the green chamber where some lawmakers walked out in protest over the provisions of the act.
Prior to the session, protesters had stormed the National Assembly complex in demand for the passage of the clause mandating the electronic transmission of election results as against the manual transmission with the form EC8A.
While the lawmakers eventually passed the clause, they also passed provision for the resort to manual transmission in case digital transmission on IReV portal fails.
President Bola Tinubu would last week approve the act into a law to bring an end to the controversies.