By Abasi Ita
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged the Court of Appeal in Abuja to suspend the enforcement of a Federal High Court judgment that ordered the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.
The electoral body also backed an appeal filed by the affected parties challenging the ruling.
At Tuesday’s proceedings before a three member panel of the appellate court, INEC, represented by its lead counsel, Haliru Mohammed, expressed surprise that the judgment was delivered despite an earlier order of the Court of Appeal restraining the lower court from doing so.
According to the Commission, it was neither informed of the date the judgment would be delivered nor served any notice by the trial court.
Mohammed told the court that the judgment, initially scheduled for June 5, had been halted by an appellate court order issued on May 22. He said INEC only became aware of the ruling through media reports and therefore did not oppose the request by the political parties for a stay of execution.
Counsel to the ADC, Shuaibu Aruwa, SAN, also informed the court that the trial judge, Justice Peter Lifu, notified the party of the judgment through a WhatsApp message.
Aruwa argued that the decision to proceed with the judgment despite the appellate court’s order amounted to a challenge to judicial authority and could undermine the integrity of the legal system.
He urged the Court of Appeal to take immediate steps to suspend the judgment and protect the sanctity of its orders, stressing that the actions of the trial court required urgent intervention.
Other parties involved in the case also warned that allowing the judgment to stand could create complications ahead of by elections scheduled by INEC in six states on June 20.
They maintained that the Court of Appeal possesses supervisory powers to ensure compliance with its directives and prevent lower courts from disregarding established judicial procedures.
The appellate court was still receiving submissions from other parties as of the time of filing this report.
Justice Lifu had earlier ordered INEC to deregister five political parties, namely the ADC, Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The court held that the parties failed to meet constitutional requirements necessary for continued registration and participation in future elections.
Consequently, INEC was directed to withdraw recognition from the affected parties, reject their future candidate nominations and discontinue all actions that could enable them to participate in the 2027 general elections.
The judgment also barred the parties from presenting themselves as registered political organisations in Nigeria.
The ruling followed a suit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which argued that the parties consistently failed to meet the electoral performance thresholds prescribed by Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC regulations.
The group maintained that the parties neither secured the required percentage of votes in presidential elections nor won elective positions at the national, state or local government levels.
According to the NFFL, the poor performance of the affected parties in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by elections rendered their continued existence as registered political parties unlawful and detrimental to the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral system.