President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed political appointees in his administration who plan to seek elective office in 2027 to resign on or before March 31, 2026, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation said in a press release.
The directive cites Section 88(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which states: “A political appointee at any level shall not be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention, congress, and primaries of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.”
The presidency also referenced the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, timetable for party primaries ahead of the 2027 vote, framing the resignation deadline as part of efforts to ensure compliance with electoral law and promote a level playing field for aspirants.
A circular signed by Secretary to the Government of the Federation Sen. George Akume and issued by the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Dr. Ibrahim Abubakar Kana, said the requirement affects ministers, ministers of state, presidential advisers and aides, and heads of federal agencies and government-owned entities, among other presidential political appointees, according to the statement.
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Affected officials were instructed to route formal resignation letters through the SGF’s office by the deadline, the statement said.
Credible News reports that in its revised timetable for the 2027 general elections, INEC has effectively shifted the real battle for political parties to two linked chokepoints: a compressed primaries season and a rigid nomination portal schedule that converts party choices into legally recognisable candidacies.
Before the primaries even begin, parties face an early compliance test: submission of their register of members to the Commission from 1 April to 21 April 2026—a bureaucratic step that, in practice, underpins internal legitimacy, delegate processes and potential disputes.
Then comes the decisive corridor: party primaries—plus resolution of disputes arising from them—must run from 23 April to 30 May 2026. By explicitly bundling “dispute resolution” into the same window, INEC appears to be signalling a hard reality to parties notorious for parallel congresses and litigated outcomes: produce a winner, settle the quarrel, and move on—fast. The Commission’s public release summarising the revised programme repeats this primaries window as a key milestone.
But primaries alone do not produce candidates; the nomination portal does. INEC’s schedule opens online submission of Forms EC9 and EC9A–EC9E for Presidential/National Assembly candidates from 9:00am 27 June to 6:00pm 11 July 2026; Governorship/State Assembly uploads follow from 9:00am 18 July to 6:00pm 8 August 2026. Even the small print is consequential: parties are to collect an access code for portal submissions from 26 June 2026 at INEC headquarters—an administrative detail that could become a bottleneck for disorganised or factionalised parties.
The portal phase is also when scrutiny becomes public. INEC will publish candidates’ personal particulars (EC9) on 1 August 2026 for Presidential/NASS and 29 August 2026 for Governorship/State Assembly—meaning omissions, inconsistencies or intra-party sabotage can spill into a reputational and legal firefight. Withdrawal and replacement deadlines—22 August 2026 (Pres/NASS) and 19 September 2026 (Gov/State)—tighten the noose further.
For parties tempted to improvise, INEC has already shown it will police the information space: it previously warned Nigerians to disregard circulating claims about a 2027 timetable and rely only on official channels—an admonition that now reads like a preface to an unforgiving compliance season.
Crediblenewsng.com
