A’Court reverses deregistration order against ADC, Accord, three other political parties

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court that ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties over alleged failure to meet constitutional requirements.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on Tuesday, a three-member panel of the appellate court ruled that the June 15 decision of the Federal High Court was a nullity, holding that the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

Justice Abba Mohammed, who delivered the lead judgment, held that the case was initiated by a non-juristic entity, making the suit incompetent from the outset. He said there was no valid action before the court upon which the order directing INEC to deregister the affected parties could have been made.

The appellate court further held that the trial court failed to properly evaluate evidence presented by the parties, noting that proof showing the affected political parties had won elective positions in previous elections was ignored.

It also faulted the Federal High Court for proceeding with the matter despite an earlier order directing it to stay proceedings pending the determination of an appeal. According to the appellate court, the lower court ought to have dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction and merit.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal restored the registration of all five political parties and awarded costs against the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which instituted the suit.

The parties affected by the judgment are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

The ruling followed separate appeals filed by the affected political parties and INEC against the Federal High Court’s judgment.

Earlier, on June 16, the Court of Appeal had ordered a stay of execution of the lower court’s judgment and criticised the trial judge, Justice Peter Lifu, for continuing with the proceedings despite an earlier directive to suspend the case.

The appellate court held that Justice Lifu ignored its May 22 order staying proceedings pending the hearing of an appeal, describing his action as a violation of judicial hierarchy. The panel also cited previous Supreme Court decisions which frowned on judges proceeding with matters after being directed to halt proceedings.

Justice Lifu had ruled that INEC should withdraw recognition from the five political parties, stop accepting candidates nominated by them and prevent them from participating in the 2027 general elections.

He also ordered the parties to cease presenting themselves as registered political parties after upholding the suit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, the NFFL argued that INEC was constitutionally required under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022 and the Commission’s regulations to deregister political parties that failed to meet prescribed electoral performance thresholds.

The plaintiffs maintained that the affected parties failed to secure at least 25 per cent of votes in a state during a presidential election or win any elective seat at the national, state or local government levels, as required by law. They also argued that the parties performed poorly in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections.

The forum further contended that allowing the parties to retain their registration undermined Nigeria’s electoral system.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), who was joined as a defendant in the suit, supported the plaintiffs’ position. He argued that INEC had a constitutional duty to deregister parties that no longer met the legal requirements and warned that failure to do so would amount to a breach of the Constitution.

However, dissatisfied with the Federal High Court’s decision, the affected political parties and INEC appealed the judgment, leading to Tuesday’s ruling by the Court of Appeal, which restored their legal status as registered political parties.