INEC Backs Appeal Against Deregistration of Accord, ADC, Three Parties
By Waliu Adetokun, Osogbo
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged the Court of Appeal in Abuja to stay the execution of the judgment of the Federal High Court ordering the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.
The electoral body also backed the notice of appeal filed by the affected parties against the ruling delivered by Justice Peter Lifu.
Appearing before a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, counsel to INEC, Haliru Mohammed, said the commission was taken aback by the decision of the Federal High Court to deliver the judgment despite an earlier order of the appellate court directing that it should not be delivered.
Mohammed told the court that INEC was neither notified nor served with any hearing notice regarding the delivery of the judgment and only became aware of the development through media reports.
“My Lords, we are aware of an order that this court made on May 22, which stopped the delivery of the judgment of the lower court, which was initially reserved for June 5,” he said.
“We were not aware of any notice from the court regarding the delivery of the judgment. We only saw it as breaking news in the media. We therefore do not oppose the application of the appellants seeking a stay of execution of the judgment.”
Counsel to the ADC, Shuaibu Aruwa (SAN), informed the appellate court that Justice Lifu communicated the date for the judgment to parties through a WhatsApp message.
Describing the development as a direct challenge to the authority of the Court of Appeal, Aruwa urged the appellate court to take immediate steps to protect the integrity of the judicial process.
“What the trial judge did was dare the Court of Appeal by insisting that no one could stop his judgment, even after his attention was drawn to the stay order issued by this court,” Aruwa said.
“The action of the trial judge calls for swift and extraordinary measures from this court. We have come to the stage where this court should press the reset button.
“We are calling on this court to exercise its disciplinary jurisdiction under Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
We urge this court to take disciplinary steps by immediately suspending that judgment. This court has the power to protect its own integrity.”
Other affected parties also urged the appellate court to halt the implementation of the judgment, noting that INEC is scheduled to conduct by-elections in six states on June 20.
They argued that allowing the judgment to stand could create confusion and legal complications, insisting that the Court of Appeal has inherent supervisory powers to ensure compliance with its orders by lower courts.
The appellate court is expected to continue hearing submissions from the parties before ruling on the applications before it.
Justice Lifu had ordered INEC to deregister the ADC, Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), holding that the parties failed to meet the constitutional requirements necessary for their continued existence.
The court further restrained INEC from recognising the parties, accepting candidates nominated by them or allowing them to participate in the 2027 general elections. It also directed the affected parties to stop presenting themselves as registered political parties.
The judgment followed a suit instituted by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which argued that the parties had consistently failed to meet the electoral performance benchmarks stipulated under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC regulations.
According to the group, the parties neither secured the required electoral support nor won elective offices at the national, state or local government levels to justify retaining their registration.
The NFFL maintained that the continued recognition of the parties despite their poor showing in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections undermines the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral system.
