The Court of Appeal Abuja, has struck out the order of the Federal High Court, which ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to deregister the African Democratic Congress, ADC and four other political parties, saying the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the suit.
A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, in a unanimous judgement given on Tuesday, found that the June 15 ruling of the Federal High Court ordering INEC to deregister the affected parties, was a nullity, as it was borne out of an incompetent litigation brought by a non-juristic body.
Justice Abba Mohammed, in the lead judgement, said there was no genuine action before the lower court that could justify the subsequent decision for INEC to withdraw recognition of the political parties.
The appellate court held that the trial court erroneously assumed jurisdiction, failed to properly consider the information before it and missed evidence that the impacted parties had previously won elective positions in prior elections.
It also chastised the Federal High Court for going ahead with the suit notwithstanding an earlier judgement of the Court of Appeal to suspend proceedings awaiting the determination of an appeal.
The appellate court said the trial court should have rejected the action for lack of jurisdiction and lack of merit.
Consequently, the Court of Appeal granted the separate appeals of the concerned political parties, restored their legal existence and awarded costs against the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL) that brought the litigation.
The parties affected by the judgement include the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Action Peoples Party (APP), the Action Alliance (AA), the Accord Party (AP) and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The latest ruling upholds a previous ruling by the Court of Appeal on June 16 which stayed the execution of the Federal High Court’s ruling and criticised the trial judge, Justice Peter Lifu, for proceeding with the case despite an appellate court order directing him to stop proceedings.
The appellate court called the judge’s action “judicial impertinence” and cited prior Supreme Court decisions that had labelled such behaviour as “judicial rascality.”
The Federal High Court had previously determined that the five political parties failed to meet the constitutional conditions for continuing registration and participation in elections. It ordered INEC to de-register the parties and forbade the commission from recognising the parties or accepting candidates supported by them for the 2027 general elections.
The complaint, FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, was filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators, which alleged the parties did not fulfil the electoral performance requirements as provided for under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC rules.
The claimants argued that the parties failed to meet the requisite electoral performance in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections, making their continued registration unlawful.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), in line with the plaintiffs’ submission before the lower court, argued that INEC had a constitutional duty to deregister political parties that did not fulfil the set legal requirements.
But with the new judgement from the Court of Appeal, the ADC, APP, AA, Accord Party and ZLP are still legally recognised political parties and can still be part in the Nigeria’s election process, unless the Supreme Court overturns the judgement.
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