With less than seven months to the 2027 general election, Nigeria’s political battlefield has expanded beyond party conventions into the courtroom, where judges are increasingly shaping the fortunes of political parties and candidates.
From the registration of new parties to leadership tussles and candidate recognition, the judiciary has emerged as one of the most influential institutions shaping the country’s political landscape.
The growing wave of litigations has effectively shifted the centre of political decision-making from party organs to the courts, raising concerns about whether judicial pronouncements, rather than internal democracy and voters’ choices, will determine the trajectory of the 2027 election.
Perhaps, the clearest indication of this trend is the emergence of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), the registration of which was eventually secured following a Federal High Court judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the party after years of legal disputes over its application.
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