Post by Jude Chibueze Mgbemene (@ijelenwamazi206)

*Political party candidates should read this*

The difference between resignation under the old Electoral Acts and the Electoral Act 2026:
Resignation from a political party under the old Electoral Acts is not the same as resignation under the Electoral Act 2026.
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Under the old regime, including the Electoral Act 2010 and the Electoral Act 2022, resignation was merely political and administrative. It was effected by a letter to the party, usually to the Ward Chairman, as provided for in the party constitution. There was no central, biometric-linked membership register filed with INEC, and there was no penalty for failure to maintain such a register.

Under the Electoral Act 2026, which was signed into law on 18 February 2026, resignation now has a digital and legal dimension. Section 77(2) of the Act provides that a political party shall maintain a digital register of its members containing the name, sex, date of birth, address, State, Local Government, Ward, Polling Unit, National Identification Number and photograph in both hard and soft copies. e9fc
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Consequently, resignation is no longer complete by merely submitting a letter and walking into another party to obtain a new membership card. The old party must de-digitize the member by removing his NIN and biometrics from its digital register, and the updated register must be submitted to INEC not later than 21 days before primaries. Under Section 77(5), only members whose names are in the submitted register are eligible to vote or be voted for.

To therefore apply the old, informal meaning of resignation to the new biometric regime under the 2026 Act is a non sequitur.

*Your party can hold you down.*

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