The internal turmoil rocking Nigeria’s major political parties has taken a dramatic turn for the worse following the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) announcement of a strict, non-negotiable deadline for the submission of presidential and National Assembly candidates.
​The electoral umpire’s firm stance has triggered a frantic, high-stakes scramble among party leaderships, threatening to tear coalitions apart just ahead of the general elections.
​In a statement released from its headquarters in Abuja, INEC emphasized that the candidate nomination portal will automatically shut down on the specified date, warning that no extensions will be granted for any reason.
​”Political parties must strictly adhere to the timeline. The portal is automated, and there will be no window for late submissions or manual interventions,” the commission stated.
​This declaration has effectively lit a fire under party secretariats, where parallel primaries, running court injunctions, and bitter substitution disputes have left several flagship tickets in total disarray.
​Instead of unifying after the primary season, the major parties are facing unprecedented internal revolts in multiple states, rival factions have produced different winners, with both sides claiming legitimacy and brandishing conflicting court orders.
The controversial strategy of using temporary vice-presidential candidates has backfired, as legal threats and disagreements over permanent running mates stall final submissions.
High-profile aspirants who lost out during the primaries are actively lobbying the national working committees to substitute the winners, leading to protests and heavy security presence at party headquarters.
​Political analysts and legal experts warn that the current chaos, combined with INEC’s unyielding deadline, could result in some parties failing to field candidates at all in critical constituencies.
​Without swift internal resolutions, the courts may ultimately decide the fates of these parties leaving voters with fewer choices on election day and plunging the democratic process into deeper uncertainty.
​With the countdown clock ticking away, Nigeria’s political class faces its ultimate test of organizational discipline. Whether they can resolve their self-inflicted crises before the INEC portal locks remains to be seen.
