The Social Democratic Party (SDP) will now participate in Saturday’s by-elections across 12 states, following a Federal High Court judgment ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to include the party and its candidates in the polls.
INEC announced on Friday that it had been served with the judgment in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1525/2025, delivered by the Abuja Division of the court. The ruling directed the commission to accept and list SDP candidates for the elections, despite earlier excluding them for failing to submit a valid notice for primaries and having their process unmonitored by the commission.
“In compliance with the judgment, the names of the candidates submitted manually have been accepted and published on our website. The party will participate in the by-elections,” INEC said in a statement by Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee.
The commission assured voters in the affected 12 states that the last-minute court decision would not disrupt the polls, which will hold as scheduled on Saturday, August 16, 2025. INEC, however, stated it would exercise its right to appeal the ruling.
The by-elections will take place in 16 constituencies across 13 states, including two senatorial seats in Edo and Anambra; five federal constituencies in Edo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Ogun, and Oyo; and nine state constituencies in Adamawa, Anambra, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Niger, Taraba, and Zamfara.
