In another landmark ruling on Friday, 19th, December, 2025, the Supreme Court of Nigeria dismissed an appeal filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) challenging its duty to recognise candidates fielded by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in recent by-elections, and ordered the commission to pay N2 million in legal costs.
A five-member panel of the apex court held that INEC’s appeal had become “an academic exercise”, noting that the by-elections had long been concluded and the victorious candidates sworn into office. In a lead judgment prepared by Justice Mohammed Idris, the court said it found “no reason to dislodge the concurrent findings of the two lower courts”, referring to the trial and appellate courts that earlier ruled in favour of SDP.
“The substratum of this appeal has been dissipated,” the panel declared, adding that “courts do not engage in interventions on academic questions.”
The case dated back to October when the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered INEC to recognise all SDP candidates for by-elections held across 12 states. The order followed a suit instituted by the SDP after INEC allegedly refused to accept nomination documents for the party’s candidates.
However, INEC, challenged the legitimacy of the correspondence submitted on behalf of SDP, arguing that letters signed by the party’s Acting National Chairman, Dr. Sadiq Umar Abubakar, and National Secretary, Dr. Olu Agunloye, were invalid because the two officers were purportedly suspended by the party at the time.
Despite INEC’s initial compliance with the trial court’s directive to include SDP candidates on ballots, the commission took the matter to the Court of Appeal. The appellate court, in a unanimous judgment delivered by a three-member panel led by Justice Adebukola Banjoko, upheld the Federal High Court’s decision. INEC subsequently appealed that verdict to the Supreme Court.
Reacting to the decision, SDP’s lead counsel, Dr. Adewole Adebayo, described the Supreme Court’s judgment as a clear affirmation of political party autonomy and a rebuke of what he called undue interference by INEC in internal party matters. According to Adebayo, the ruling sends a message that electoral regulation should not encroach on the constitutional rights of political parties.
“A multi-party democracy requires an umpire that is unbiased and not one that foments crises within opposition parties,” Adebayo said, urging the electoral body to respect party structures and constitutions going forward.
Similarly, Prof. Sadiq Umar Abubakar, the Acting National Chairman of the SDP, hailed the judgment as a landmark victory for the rule of law, stressing that it affirmed parties’ rights to manage their internal affairs without external interference. He called on INEC to fully comply with the ruling.
INEC has yet to issue an official statement on the Supreme Court decision. Legal analysts say the ruling underscores the judiciary’s insistence that electoral disputes must present “live issues” and cautions regulatory bodies against pursuing appeals that lack practical relevance once elections have concluded.
By awarding N2 million in costs against INEC’s lawyer, the Supreme Court has further signalled that appeals perceived as unnecessary or without merit could attract financial penalties, a move that may influence future electoral litigation strategies.
