15-POINT RESOLUTION
SOUTHERN CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS SUMMIT 2026
Lagos, 8th July 2026
Theme: “NIGERIA FIRST”

We, the Accredited Civil Society Organisations and Community-Based Organisations under the umbrella of CSCHEI, having deliberated on issues of national unity, security, governance, development, and citizen welfare, hereby resolve as follows:

1. National Unity and Cohesion:
We commit to promoting peace, tolerance, and national unity across the Southern States and Nigeria at large, by rejecting hate speech, divisive narratives, and actions that undermine nationhood.

2. Support for Security Architecture :
We call for the strengthening and adequate resourcing of the Judiciary, Intelligence, and Security Agencies to ensure proactive crime prevention, justice delivery, and protection of lives and property.

3. Food Security and Agricultural Transformation :
We urge government at all levels to prioritize sustainable agriculture, provide support to smallholder farmers, and implement policies that guarantee food sufficiency and affordability for all citizens.

4. Acceleration of SDG 2030 Implementation:
We resolve to align CSO programs with the UN 2030 Agenda and to work with Federal and State MDAs to track, report, and accelerate progress on all 17 SDGs at the grassroots level.

5. Climate Action and Climate Financing:
We advocate for increased investment in climate adaptation, renewable energy, and community-based environmental programs, and for transparent access to global climate financing for local communities.

6. Open, Transparent and Accountable Budgeting:
We demand the institutionalization of an open budgeting system that ensures citizen participation, transparency in public expenditure, and value for money in project delivery.

7. Strengthening Democratic Governance:
We reaffirm our commitment to inclusive governance, the rule of law, and judicial independence as foundations for sustainable democracy and development.

8. Strategic Partnership Between Government and CSOs:
We call for the establishment of a structured framework for collaboration between Government and Civil Society as partners in nation building to ensure service delivery reaches the last mile.

9. Combating Misinformation and Promoting Civic Education:
We resolve to lead strategic information management by countering fake news and rumours, and by intensifying voter education and civic engagement to strengthen democracy.

10. Youth Empowerment and Human Capacity Development:
We urge government and development partners to expand investments in skills acquisition, entrepreneurship, and the Industrial Training Fund to reduce unemployment and empower Nigerian youth.

11. Strengthening Social Protection Systems:
We call for the refinement and expansion of social protection and trust-building mechanisms to cushion the impact of economic hardship and restore citizens’ confidence in government.

12. Support for MSMEs and Economic Inclusion:
We resolve to work with SMEDAN, BOI, and other agencies to facilitate access to grants, credit, and technical support for MSMEs as drivers of job creation and grassroots economic growth.

13. Health and Basic Education Delivery:
We commit to partnering with NPHCDA and UBEC to improve primary healthcare and basic education outcomes, especially in underserved communities across the 460 LGAs of our operational reach.

14. Data-Driven and Evidence-Based Advocacy:
We resolve to anchor all CSO interventions on Logic, Science, and Data, and to establish a unified data system for tracking development impact and optimizing donor and government support.

15.Institutionalization of “Nigeria First” :
We adopt “Nigeria First” as our guiding ideology. We pledge to reposition Civil Society from confrontation to collaboration, to prioritize national interest above sectional interests, and to serve as a bridge between Government and the people for sustainable national development.

Adopted this 8th Day of July 2026, at the Southern Civil Society Organisations Summit, Lagos, Nigeria.

This pattern has shaped electoral outcomes and, at times, destabilised the democratic process.

However, the Electoral Act 2026 insulates party affairs from judicial interference.

Section 83 (5) of the Electoral Act 2026 states that “no court in Nigeria shall entertain jurisdiction over any suit or matter about the internal affairs of a political party”.

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Subsection 6 further stipulates that where such action is brought in negation of the Act, “no interim or interlocutory injunction shall be entertained by the court, but the court shall suspend its ruling and deliver it at the stage of final judgment and shall give accelerated hearing to the matter”.

As a punishment to deter party members and their lawyers from dragging a political party to court over its internal affairs, the law prescribes heavy financial penalties.

Section 83 (6) (b) mandates that, at the conclusion of the case, the court must impose a minimum cost of N10 million each on the lawyer who filed the suit and the plaintiff or applicant. It also requires them to cover any costs incurred by the commission, including solicitors’ fees, where it is joined as a party.

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In section 88(4), the Electoral Act goes further to explicitly bar courts from halting primaries or general elections pending the determination of a suit.

“Nothing in this section shall empower the courts to stop the holding of primaries or general elections under this Act pending the determination of a suit,” the section reads.

Members of the opposition coalition at a recent ADC world press conference
Unfolding events within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) reveal a widening gap between what the law dictates and what is practised.

On April 1, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it would no longer recognise the ADC leadership led by David Mark, following the court of appeal interim ruling, which ordered parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum, the situation before the suit was filed at the federal high court.

This decision came against the backdrop of a leadership transition that began on July 2, 2025, when Ralph Nwosu, the party’s founder and national chairman, resigned and endorsed an interim leadership headed by Mark after opposition politicians adopted the ADC as their platform to challenge President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.

However, the arrangement was challenged by a faction led by Nafiu Bala, the party’s former deputy national chairman.

Bala insisted he never resigned and argued that he should assume leadership in line with the party’s constitution. The Mark camp, on the other hand, maintained that Bala had been part of the transition process and supported the new leadership.

What followed was predictable in Nigeria’s political landscape: a wave of litigation.

He then declared himself party chairman, vowing to go against the Mark leadership in court

On September 2, 2025, Bala approached a federal high court in Abuja (Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025), seeking to stop Mark’s team members from parading themselves as party leaders.

He also sought an order restraining INEC from recognising them and compelling recognition of himself as the acting national chairman.

He further filed motions seeking to stop the party from holding meetings, congresses, or conventions pending the determination of the suit.

The motion ex parte was heard on September 4, 2025, and Emeka Nwite, the trial judge, directed that the respondents, including INEC, be put on notice to show cause why the motion ex parte should not be granted.

Investigative journalism service
Apparently seeking to stop the suit, INEC, in an affidavit filed on September 12, 2025, asked the court to stay out of the “domestic affairs” of the ADC.

Ayuba, an assistant executive officer at INEC, deposed to the affidavit to explain why Bala’s application should not be granted.

“That the Plaintiff’s application is in substance an invitation to this Honourable Court to delve into issues of internal/domestic affairs of 1st Defendant as a political party,” the affidavit reads.

“That I know as a fact that a Court of record should not dabble into a political question, which remains the exclusive preserve of political parties, which should be allowed to do their thing.”

SUPREME COURT POSITION ON PARTY AFFAIRS

Over the years, the supreme court has held that disputes relating to the internal affairs of political parties — including leadership tussles and membership — are not justiciable and fall outside the jurisdiction of courts.

In a long line of decisions, the apex court ruled that political parties are voluntary associations governed by their own constitutions and that issues arising from their internal management must be resolved within the party.

In the case of Uba v. Ozigbo (2021), the supreme court made it clear that the nomination of candidates and party decisions are within the exclusive domain of political parties and not for judicial determination.

In a similar case, Anyanwu v. Emmanuel (2025), the apex court held that disputes over party leadership are internal matters and constitute a no-go area for courts.

Yet, despite these precedents, political actors continue to seek judicial intervention in intra-party disputes, testing the limits of the law for political advantage.

NBA: COURTS MUST NOT BE DRAWN INTO PARTIES’ INTERNAL AFFAIRS

In a statement on April 10, Afam Osigwe, president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), expressed concern over what he described as the increasing interference of courts in the internal affairs of political parties, despite clear provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 barring such actions.

According to him, this pattern reflects a disregard for statutory provisions and undermines the rule of law.

The NBA president urged judges to resist interfering in matters clearly barred by law and called for strict adherence to the Electoral Act, adding that the NBA would take disciplinary action against lawyers who file such cases to weaken Nigeria’s democracy.

Corroborating the NBA’s position, Festus Ogun, a human rights lawyer, said the “mischievous mischaracterisation” of the court of appeal status quo order has set a perilous precedent that must be urgently corrected by INEC.

Ogun said in the long run, politicians may approach the court over a leadership dispute and somehow find a way to make the court direct the maintenance of the status quo over the subject matter of the dispute

For years, Nigerian politicians have turned to the courts to resolve internal party disputes, from leadership tussles to candidate nominations. 

This pattern has shaped electoral outcomes and, at times, destabilised the democratic process.

However, the Electoral Act 2026 insulates party affairs from judicial interference.

Section 83 (5) of the Electoral Act 2026 states that “no court in Nigeria shall entertain jurisdiction over any suit or matter about the internal affairs of a political party”.

Subsection 6 further stipulates that where such action is brought in negation of the Act, “no interim or interlocutory injunction shall be entertained by the court, but the court shall suspend its ruling and deliver it at the stage of final judgment and shall give accelerated hearing to the matter”.

As a punishment to deter party members and their lawyers from dragging a political party to court over its internal affairs, the law prescribes heavy financial penalties.

Section 83 (6) (b) mandates that, at the conclusion of the case, the court must impose a minimum cost of N10 million each on the lawyer who filed the suit and the plaintiff or applicant. It also requires them to cover any costs incurred by the commission, including solicitors’ fees, where it is joined as a party.

In section 88(4), the Electoral Act goes further to explicitly bar courts from halting primaries or general elections pending the determination of a suit.

“Nothing in this section shall empower the courts to stop the holding of primaries or general elections under this Act pending the determination of a suit,” the section reads.

NIGERIA GENERAL ELECTIONS 2027,

VOTE POLICING, TRACKING MECHANISM, REAL-TIME PARALLEL VOTE TABULATION AND REPORTING THROUGH INEC ELECTION OBSERVERS MISSION; REQUEST FOR COLLABORATION AND SUPPORT

Election is said to be politicking – struggle for power, where citizens exercise their franchise to vote and be voted for which is the beauty of democracy.

Nigeria as a democratic nation shall be going to the poll on the 16^th of January, 2027 to elect a new president or renew the mandate of the incumbent president for a second term of four years.

To carefully monitor the credibility of the election and the level of compliance to our relevant electoral laws and guidelines for the election released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as it concerns to the mandate of the people really counting and the integrity of the election, we write to humbly request for the collaboration and support of good spirited Nigerians, national and International organizations committed to democratic principle, rule of law, constitutional rights and leadership excellence, to carry out the underlisted strategic election activities: –

VOTE PROTECTION, TRACKING AND POLICING MECHANISM:

Nigeria is made up of Seven Hundred and Seventy-four (774) Local Government Areas, Eight Thousand, Eight Hundred and Nine (8,809) INEC Registration Areas/Wards and One Hundred and Seventy-six thousand, Nine Hundred and Seventy-Four (176,974) Polling Units.

Given the strategic nature of this election, for adequate and effective vote monitoring, protection and tracking mechanism, we wish to accredit, train and deploy at least five (5) Community Intelligent Officers as INEC Election Observers in each of the 8,809 INEC Wards in Nigeria, during the election to do the needful. Total observers to be accredited, trained and deployed: 44,045

The accredited persons will be trained on some Legal framework for the election, Vote Policing, Vote Protection and tracking mechanism, BVAS machine operations, election result tabulation and transmission, etc.

As INEC accredited observers, they will have immunity to move around during the election without security restriction or harassment as they will be kitted with INEC official and customized Identification (ID) Cards, T-Shirts, Caps, etc.

They will also be giving on-the-spot information from their various Polling Units/Wards directly to the Situation Room for swift response where necessary.

PARALLEL VOTE TABULATION OF REPORTING:

These special accredited observers will be carefully trained on Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) and all-round election activities reporting.

They will be giving real-time election results to the Central Situation Room for Parallel Vote Tabulation and record keeping.

TRAINING OF THE OBSERVERS: –

It is going to be an intensive two months training exercise across the country. Our experts include; very professional Resource Persons on election management and conduct, including our ECOWAS partners and INEC Directors, etc.

RECRUITMENT AND DEPLOYMENT:

Patriotism, Integrity, community familiarity is a core criterion.

We hope to collaborate with some reliable Civil Society Organizations in the recruitment process for the Local Government Intelligent Officer across the entire 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria. These Local Government Intelligent Officers’ main objective is to;

1. Carefully scan the environment politically and otherwise.
2. Engage stakeholders across political, community, and civil society platforms for cooperation and legitimacy.
3. Promote continuous community engagement before the elections.
4. Recruit Community Intelligent Officers (CIO) across communities in all LGAs, using integrity and community familiarity as core criteria also. The Community Intelligent Officers (CIO) will then be accredited, trained and deployed as INEC ELECTION OBSERVERS in their various communities.
5. The INEC Election Observers will then take over the do the needful of vote protection, tacking and policing, etc.

MODALITIES AND TIMELINE:

1. Recruitment, Screening and setting: – Two Month – the entire month of May and June.

1. Training:       Location: Across the 8,809 Registration Areas/Wards, except where advised for security reasons.

Timeline: two Month, the entire month of July and August

2026. Polling Units Mapping and Intelligent Gathering: Two Months: September and October, 2026.

1. Process review and considerations: November, 2026

2026. Pre-Election World Press Conference: The Six geo-political Zones,         December, 2026.

2027. Deployment of observers: January, 2027.

2027. Monitoring of Presidential and National Assembly elections:  January, 2027.

We therefore, humbly request for Your Excellency’s kind collaboration and support in carrying out and achieving the key objectives of this very important strategic national assignment.

ABOUT US:

Grassroots Development and Peace Initiative is a Pan- Nigeria Civil Society Organization established since 2010 but finally and officially registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in 2018. We are grassroots development driven; committed to peace building, conflict resolution mechanism, strengthening democratic values, promotion of good governance and leadership excellence through performance awareness creation in Nigeria. We are also committed to ensuring that a beautiful brand of democracy that respect the rule of law and constitutional rights of citizens become a national ethos that must be pursued with vigour.

COLLABORATING PARTNERS:

Our organization is in collaboration with the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Nigeria, State Independent Electoral Commission (ISECs), Network of Civil Society Organizations in Nigeria, and other National and International Organizations on Community Development and Humanitarian Services, Democracy/Election Assistance, Observation and Management, Good Governance and Peace Building, etc.

Thank you, in anticipation of your response, we will appreciate giving further clarifications as us or this appeal as may be requested.

Yours Faithfully;

Comrade Victor Kalu,                                                      

Chairman, BOT/CEO.

Dear Sir,
You have been selected to be part of the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission (EOM) to the General Elections scheduled for 23 November 2025 in Guinea-Bissau.
The Mission will be deployed from 19 to 26 November 2025.
Thank you

Congratulations sir and do have a safe and peaceful mission.

Jones Osume,
Director, ICT & Publicity.

REMARKS BY THE CHAIRMAN, INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC), PROF. MAHMOOD YAKUBU, AT THE FIRST REGULAR CONSULTATIVE MEETING WITH POLITICAL PARTIES HELD AT THE INEC CONFERENCE ROOM, ABUJA, ON WEDNESDAY 22ND JANUARY 2025

Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC)
Chairmen and other Leaders of Political Parties
National Commissioners
The Secretary to the Commission
Other Senior Officials of the Commission
Members of the INEC Press Corps
Ladies and Gentlemen

1. It is my pleasure to welcome you all to our first regular quarterly consultative meeting for the year 2025. It is therefore appropriate to start by wishing you a blissful new year.

2. You may recall that last year began and ended with a number of elections. Overall, the Commission conducted 51 re-run elections, bye-elections and off-cycle elections in 2024. In February, the Commission conducted re-run elections in 39 constituencies combined with nine bye-elections arising from vacancies in the national and State Assemblies nationwide. We also conducted two Governorship elections, the last one held in November 2024 in Ondo State.

3. Furthermore, we had several electoral activities, including the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) ahead of the Edo and Ondo State Governorship elections, the publication of our 2023 General Election Report and the release of the Review Report containing 142 recommendations arising from our in-house and external engagements with stakeholders. Similarly, we sustained our engagements with stakeholders. During the year, we had a total of 16 regular quarterly consultative meetings with political parties, civil society organisations, the media and security agencies in addition to extraordinary meetings as the need arose.

4. Sadly, in 2024 our State office in Benin City was flooded but we were able to recover ahead of the election. Elsewhere, two of our Local Government offices were attacked in incidents unrelated to elections or electoral activities. In Sankara, the headquarters of Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State, our office, along with other public buildings and private institutions in the area, was attacked during a local protest against insecurity. In Owa Oyibu, the headquarters of Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State, our office was destroyed in a fire incident. The Commission is glad that our staff were safe in the two locations. However, many electoral assets were lost and the buildings substantially damaged.

5. In terms of elections and electoral activities, the year 2025 is going to be busier than 2024. You may recall that at our fourth regular consultative meeting held on Thursday 17th October last year, the Commission released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the Anambra State Governorship election holding on Saturday 8th November 2025. Already, the Notice of Election has been published over two months ago as provided in the Timetable. The next activity is the conduct of primaries by political parties. May I remind leaders of political parties that primaries for the nomination of candidates for the Anambra State Governorship election begins in the next two months i.e. 20th March to 10th April 2025. You may similarly recall that at our last regular meeting, we agreed that you will forward your schedule of activities for the election to the Commission to enable us work together and plan better for the deployment of personnel and resources for the monitoring of your party primaries and campaign activities in order to avoid the last minute rush with the attendant inability to meet deadlines and unnecessarily dissipate our energy and lean resources. So far, only a few parties are in compliance. I urge those that have not done so to submit the details by the end of this week.

6. Even as we prepare for the Anambra State Governorship election, we are always mindful of our responsibilities for other elections and electoral activities. For instance, Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 requires the Commission to issue the notice for elections not later than 360 days before the date of the election. This applies to the General as well as off-cycle elections. As you are aware, the Commission is responsible for the Area Council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the only part of the country where INEC conducts local government election.

7. The last Area Council election in the FCT was held on 12 February 2022. By the effluxion of time, the tenure of the current Chairmen and Councillors ends next year. Consequently, the Commission has approved that the 2026 Area Council election in FCT will hold on Saturday 21st February 2026. Voting will take place in all the designated Polling Units across the 68 constituencies to elect the six Area Council Chairmen and 62 Councilors.

8. In compliance with the mandatory legal requirements, the notice for the election will be published next month i.e. 26th February 2025. Party primaries will be held from 9th – 30th June 2025. The candidate nomination portal will open from 9.00am on 21st July 2025 to 6.00pm on 11th August 2025. The final list of candidates will be published on 22nd September 2025. Campaign in public by political parties will commence on 24th September 2025 and end at midnight of Thursday 19th February 2026.

9. The detailed Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election as well as the list of constituencies and type of elections in the FCT will be uploaded to our website before the end of this meeting. Hardcopies of the two documents have been included in your folders for this meeting. For your guidance, we are also including the hardcopies of the Regulation and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022 in your folders while the softcopy is already available from our website www.inecnigeria.org

10. In due course, the Commission will come up with plans for other routine activities such as the resumption of nationwide Continuous Voter registration (CVR) and the conduct of outstanding bye-elections. Over the last one and a half years since the inauguration of the current National and State Assemblies in June 2023, vacancies have occurred in 23 constituencies as a result of death of serving members or their voluntary resignation for executive positions at Federal, State and even Local Government levels as Ministers, Commissioners, Chairman of a Local Government and even board appointment. While the Commission has conducted nine bye-elections early last year, 14 more vacancies have occurred since then. They are unpredictable, unbudgeted and difficult to plan in advance. Worse, some bye-elections lead to more bye-elections. There were situations where a bye-election in one Senatorial District was won by a serving member of the House of Representatives from the same District thereby creating another vacancy. In turn, a member of the State Assembly won the bye-election to the House of Representatives thereby creating a vacancy in the State Assembly. Consequently, one bye-election led to three bye-elections. Not only are these bye-elections costly, they also divert the Commission’s attention from its other extensive electoral responsibilities.

11. Over the last nine years since 2016, the present Commission has been advocating for a more cost-effective alternative means of filling vacancies as is the case in many jurisdictions around the world. We have similarly been appealing to stakeholders, including political parties, to join the advocacy and for the National Assembly to amend the law accordingly. Just three weeks ago, we canvassed this position once again during the defence of our 2025 budget before the joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives at the National Assembly. We are glad that more Nigerians are now joining the advocacy. We hope that working together, we will continue to reform and improve on our electoral process.

12. I welcome you once again to this meeting. I thank you and God bless.