Insights on Federal High Court (pre-election) practice directions (amendment), 2026, By Wahab Shittu

On 13 July 2026, the Honourable Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, KSS, OFR, FCIArb (UK), Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, issued the Federal High Court (Pre-Election) Practice Directions (Amendment), 2026, effective from Tuesday, 14 July 2026. The instrument amends the Federal High Court (Pre-Election) Practice Directions, 2026, and was made pursuant to Sections 254, 285(9), (10) and (14) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and Sections 29(5) and 88(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026. Its arrival, roughly six months before the general elections scheduled for 16 January 2027, is deliberate rather than incidental: it is the judiciary’s procedural answer to a legislative and constitutional framework that leaves very little room for delay.