Appeal court restores ADC, other parties, voids deregistration order

THE Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned the Federal High Court judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.

The court ruled that the lower court acted without jurisdiction.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on Tuesday by a three-member panel of justices led by Abba Mohammed, the appellate court declared the June 15 decision of the Federal High Court a nullity.

It held that the lower court’s decision was based on an incompetent suit instituted by a non-juristic entity.

The court held that the trial court wrongly assumed jurisdiction in entertaining the matter and consequently lacked the authority to order the deregistration of the affected political parties.

According to the appellate court, there was no valid suit before the Federal High Court capable of supporting the consequential orders directing INEC to remove the parties from its register.

The appellate court further faulted the lower court for failing to properly evaluate the evidence before it, noting that documents showing the affected political parties had won elective offices in previous elections were ignored.

It also ruled that the trial judge proceeded in defiance of an earlier order directing him to stay proceedings pending the determination of an interlocutory appeal.

The court held that the Federal High Court ought to have dismissed the substantive suit for want of jurisdiction and merit.

Consequently, it allowed the separate appeals filed by the ADC, Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), restoring their legal status as duly registered political parties.

The appellate court also awarded costs against the National Forum of Former Legislators, which instituted the suit challenging the continued recognition of the parties by INEC.

The panel reaffirmed that all five political parties remained lawfully registered and entitled to participate in Nigeria’s political process.

The Court of Appeal had on June 16 stayed the execution of the Federal High Court judgment pending the hearing and determination of the appeals.

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In a strongly worded decision, the appellate court criticised the conduct of the trial judge, Peter Lifu, for continuing with the case despite an order issued on May 22 directing him to halt proceedings until the interlocutory appeal was determined.

The appellate court observed that Lifu’s attention had been drawn to the subsisting stay of proceedings, yet he proceeded to deliver judgment.

Describing the action as “a form of judicial impertinence,” the panel cited previous Supreme Court authorities, noting that a judge who acts in disregard of a valid court order “is unfit for the bench,” describing such conduct as amounting to “judicial rascality.”

Lifu had, in the earlier judgment, ordered INEC to deregister the five political parties after finding that they failed to satisfy the constitutional requirements for continued registration.

The trial court also restrained the electoral commission from recognising the parties, accepting candidates sponsored by them or giving effect to any of their activities ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The judgment arose from suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026 filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators.

The plaintiff had asked the court to determine whether INEC was constitutionally obligated under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022 and its regulations to deregister political parties that failed to meet prescribed electoral performance thresholds.

The forum argued that the affected parties neither secured at least 25 per cent of votes in any state during a presidential election nor won elective seats at the national, state or local government levels as required by law.

It maintained that the parties’ poor performance in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections rendered their continued registration unconstitutional and detrimental to the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral system.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, a senior advocate, who was joined as a defendant in the suit, supported the plaintiffs’ position, arguing that retaining the parties on INEC’s register was inconsistent with the Constitution and undermined the country’s electoral integrity.

Dissatisfied with the Federal High Court ruling, the five political parties and INEC separately approached the Court of Appeal, urging it to set aside the judgment.

The appellate court upheld the appeals in their entirety, nullified the Federal High Court’s decision and restored the registration of all five political parties.

Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.