Court nullifies judgment recognising NDC as political party, orders fresh hearing

A Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja has set aside its earlier judgment that directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) as a political party, ordering that the matter be heard afresh.

Delivering the ruling on Friday, Justice Isah Dashen held that the previous judgment could not stand because it was delivered without hearing all parties with a direct interest in the dispute.

The court ruled in favour of an application filed by the Peace Movement Party (PMP), which argued that it should have been joined in the original suit because its interests were directly affected.

Justice Dashen held that the failure to include all necessary parties in the proceedings rendered the earlier judgment constitutionally flawed and legally unsustainable.

He further ordered that the status quo existing before the December 10, 2025 judgment be restored pending the determination of the substantive case.

The judge also observed that certain material facts were not disclosed during the initial proceedings, a development he said justified vacating the earlier decision.

Consequently, the court directed that the substantive suit should commence afresh, with INEC, the Peace Movement Party and the Nigeria Democratic Congress participating as parties to the case.

Reacting to the ruling, counsel for the applicant, Chikezie Ekeocha, said the PMP approached the court after discovering that the NDC’s registration process was based on a logo the party had earlier submitted to INEC before the litigation commenced.

According to him, the court agreed that the party’s interests had been affected and therefore nullified the earlier judgment.

He explained that the ruling effectively reverses every action taken by INEC in compliance with the now-vacated judgment.

Ekeocha said this includes the recognition of the NDC as a political party, the issuance of its certificate of registration, its inclusion in INEC’s official records and any participation in electoral processes arising from the earlier judgment, pending the final determination of the substantive suit.

He, however, stressed that the court had not determined the merits of the dispute.

“The substantive case remains before the court. What the court has done is to set aside the previous judgment and direct that all parties whose interests are affected be joined so that the issues can be fully and fairly determined,” he said.

He also dismissed suggestions that the court merely ordered parties to maintain the status quo, insisting that the ruling specifically restored the position that existed before the December 2025 judgment.

The latest decision returns the dispute over the NDC’s registration to the Federal High Court, where the case will be reheard with all relevant parties before a fresh judgment is delivered.