Appeal Court Reserves Judgment In ADC, Four Other Parties’ Challenge To Deregistration Order

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Tuesday reserved judgment in separate appeals filed by the African Democratic Congress (ADC), four other political parties and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against a Federal High Court judgment ordering their deregistration

A three-member panel of the appellate court led by Justice Abba Bello Mohammed fixed judgment for a date to be communicated to the parties after lawyers adopted their written briefs.

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

Counsel for the Accord Party, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), urged the court to nullify the judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, arguing that it was legally defective.

Adetunbi submitted that the trial judge “erred in law” by making findings and reaching conclusions that were not supported by law, urging the appellate court to allow the appeal “in the interest of justice.”

The appeals arose from Justice Lifu’s judgment in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, in which he ordered INEC to deregister the five political parties for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional conditions required to retain their registration.

The judge also barred INEC from recognising the parties, accepting candidates nominated by them or allowing them to participate in the 2027 general elections.

In addition, Justice Lifu restrained the parties from presenting themselves as registered political parties after holding that the suit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators had merit.

The forum, through its lawyer, Rabo Mohammed, argued that Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act and INEC’s regulations impose a constitutional obligation on the electoral commission to deregister political parties that fail to meet the required electoral performance benchmarks.