Appellate court faults Federal High Court’s jurisdiction, restores parties’ legal status and awards costs against the plaintiffs.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court that directed 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 decision delivered by a three-member panel of justices, the appellate court held that the June 15 order issued by the lower court was a nullity, having been made in an incompetent suit filed by a non-juristic entity.
The court held that there was no valid suit before the trial court to warrant the consequential order directing INEC to deregister the affected political parties. It further ruled that the Federal High Court wrongly assumed jurisdiction and failed to properly evaluate evidence showing that the parties had won elective seats in previous elections.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Abba Mohammed held that the trial court acted in defiance of an earlier order directing it to stay proceedings pending the determination of an appeal. He stated that the substantive suit ought to have been dismissed for want of jurisdiction and merit.
Consequently, the appellate court restored the registration of all the affected political parties, namely the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP). It also awarded monetary costs against the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which instituted the suit.
The court recalled that it had, on June 16, ordered a stay of execution of the High Court judgment and criticised the trial judge for disregarding the judicial hierarchy. The appellate panel described Justice Peter Lifu’s decision to proceed with the matter despite the stay order as “judicial impertinence,” noting that the Supreme Court had previously characterised such conduct as judicial rascality.
The Federal High Court had ordered INEC to deregister the five political parties and barred the electoral commission from recognising them or accepting nominations of their candidates for the 2027 general elections. It further restrained the parties from parading themselves as registered political parties.
The NFFL had argued that the parties failed to satisfy the constitutional and electoral requirements for continued registration, including meeting prescribed electoral performance thresholds in previous elections.
Although the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice supported the suit at the trial court, all the defendants, including INEC and the affected political parties, challenged the judgment before the Court of Appeal, which has now nullified the lower court’s decision and reaffirmed the parties’ legal status.