Members of the Nigeria Civil Society Coalition have criticised the timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2027 elections, describing it as overly tight and unsuitable for delivering a credible electoral process.

Their concerns were raised as the Situation Room on Thursday in Abuja introduced a digital monitoring platform, the Situation Room Election Accountability Tracker (SEAT), designed to track electoral activities before, during, and after elections.

At the same time, the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) voiced apprehension over what it called a growing pattern among political parties of imposing consensus candidates on members, rather than allowing competitive primaries to determine candidates.

Speaking at the unveiling of the platform, a key member of the civil society coalition and Executive Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Clement Nwankwo, expressed worry about the limited timeframe given to political parties to conduct primaries and submit candidate lists for the 2027 elections.

He also criticised the increasing use of consensus arrangements, often presented as unity lists, by political parties.

Under INEC’s revised timetable, party primaries, including the resolution of disputes arising from them, are scheduled to begin on April 23, 2026 and conclude on Thursday, May 30, 2026.

The timetable also requires political parties to submit their membership registers to INEC between April 1 and April 21, 2026, in compliance with Section 77(4) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which mandates submission “not later than 21 days to the conduct of party primaries.

”However, Nwankwo argued that the compressed schedule could make it difficult for parties to meet the standards required for credible primaries.

“INEC has circumscribed this to now be May 30th and I see no reason for the rush. We’re delighted as civil society to be working with INEC and we are delighted that we have worked with INEC for so very long. Supporting it to conduct elections with integrity and that is credible,” he said.

He added that many parties, in a bid to meet the deadlines, are resorting to imposing candidates through consensus or unity lists, which he described as undemocratic.

“The beauty of democracy is that people have a choice and where parties, whether ruling or opposition, are foisting candidates for we, Nigerians, to vote for, that’s not democracy.“

Where parties are trying to emerge to run elections and they are not being allowed to emerge, that’s not democracy. Where people are struggling, today is 30th of April and INEC has foisted on us a timetable.

“I have repeatedly said it is unjustified in the light of the constitutional provision that says that elections shall be held no earlier than 150 days and no later than 30 days,” he said.

Representing IPAC, Dipo Olayokun echoed similar concerns, noting that developments within the political space are weakening competitiveness ahead of the 2027 elections.

He said political parties are increasingly adopting methods that impose consensus candidates, thereby excluding many aspirants and reducing the competitiveness of primaries.

Explaining the new SEAT platform, Mrs. Agianpe Onyema said it was designed to be user-friendly and to enable citizens to report election-related issues easily.

She added that the Situation Room plans to deploy the platform during the upcoming off-cycle Osun State governorship election to showcase its effectiveness.

According to her, the platform will provide regular situation analyses through its dashboard, allowing political parties and the public to monitor developments throughout the electoral process.