2027: IPAC describes all political parties’ primaries as ‘charade’, blames Electoral Act

The Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, has described as charade the recently concluded primary elections held by various political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.

IPAC National Chairman, Yusuf Dantalle, stated this on Tuesday at Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s Second Quarterly Consultative Meeting with leaders of political parties in Abuja.

Dantalle blamed the challenges that marred the primary elections on the restriction imposed by the Electoral Act 2026, which eliminated indirect primaries as a valid mode of candidate nomination.

According to him, the nomination exercise which officially concluded on Saturday, May 30, 2026, exposed significant legal, administrative and operational challenges that deserve urgent national attention.

He added that the restrictive provisions of Section 84(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which limited parties to either consensus or direct primaries, effectively cornered political parties into processes that were neither genuinely democratic nor practically workable.

The IPAC’s boss noted that in many instances, parties adopted the consensus option despite the existence of multiple aspirants who had duly purchased expression of interest and nomination forms.

“The exercise was a charade. While some aspirants accepted these arrangements in the interest of party unity, others challenged their exclusion, arguing that genuine consensus requires the voluntary agreement of all contestants.

“Consequently, several disputes have found their way to the courts, creating uncertainty and avoidable tension within the political system,” Dantalle said.