Appeal Court Reserves Judgment On Party De-Registration

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved judgment in appeals challenging the Federal High Court’s ruling ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five opposition political parties.

The parties involved in the case are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party, Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP) and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

A three-member panel of the appellate court, headed by Justice Abba Mohammed, announced on Tuesday that the date for delivering the judgment would be communicated to all parties involved in the case.

During the hearing, counsel for the Accord Party, Musial Adetunbi, asked the appellate court to nullify the judgment of the Federal High Court.

He argued that Justice Peter Lifu made errors in law because there were no legal provisions to support his findings and conclusions.

Adetunbi challenged several aspects of the lower court’s decision and urged the Court of Appeal to overturn the ruling in the interest of justice.

Earlier, on June 16, the Court of Appeal granted a stay of execution of the Federal High Court judgment while the appeals were being considered.

The appellate court also criticised Justice Lifu for continuing proceedings despite an earlier directive from the Court of Appeal ordering him to suspend the case pending the determination of an interlocutory appeal.

According to the appellate court, Justice Lifu proceeded with the matter even after he had been informed of the order issued on May 22.

The court described his actions as judicial misconduct, noting that the Supreme Court had previously regarded such conduct as unacceptable for a judicial officer.

Justice Lifu had ordered INEC to remove the five political parties from the register because they failed to satisfy the constitutional requirements needed to retain their registration.

He also directed INEC not to recognise the affected parties, accept their candidates or allow them to participate in the 2027 general election.

In addition, the Federal High Court ordered the parties to stop presenting themselves as registered political organisations, ruling that the suit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL) had merit.

The legal action, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, was filed by the NFFL against the five political parties.

Through its lawyer, Rabo Mohammed, the NFFL argued that Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC regulations require the electoral commission to de-register political parties that fail to meet the required electoral performance standards.

The group maintained that the ADC and the four other parties failed to satisfy those conditions during the 2023 general election and subsequent by-elections, making their continued registration unlawful.

The Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, who is also listed as a defendant in the case, supported the arguments presented by the NFFL.

According to court documents, the Attorney General argued that allowing the affected parties to remain registered would violate constitutional provisions and weaken the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral system.

He further maintained that INEC would continue to breach its constitutional responsibilities unless the court intervened.

Following the Federal High Court’s ruling, all the defendants in the case, including INEC, challenged the judgment before the Court of Appeal and asked the appellate court to set it aside.