Court of Appeal Reserves Judgment in ADC, Four Other Parties’ Deregistration Appeals
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has reserved judgment in the appeals filed by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties challenging the Federal High Court’s decision ordering their deregistration.
The three-member appellate panel, led by Justice Abba Bello Mohammed, announced on Tuesday that a date for the judgment would be communicated to all parties after lawyers adopted their written arguments.
The appeals were brought by the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
During the proceedings, counsel to the Accord Party, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), urged the appellate court to overturn the lower court’s ruling, arguing that the judgment was legally flawed and should be declared a nullity.
He maintained that the trial judge reached conclusions that were not supported by law and appealed to the court to set aside the decision in the interest of justice.
The appeals arise from the judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja in suit FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, where the court directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the five political parties for allegedly failing to meet constitutional requirements for continued registration.
Justice Lifu also restrained INEC from recognising the affected parties, accepting candidates nominated by them, or allowing them to participate in the 2027 general elections. The parties were equally barred from presenting themselves as registered political parties.
The suit was filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators, which argued that Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act, and INEC regulations require the electoral commission to deregister political parties that fail to meet prescribed electoral performance benchmarks.
According to the plaintiffs, the affected parties neither secured at least 25 percent of votes in any state during the 2023 presidential election nor won any elective office at the federal, state, or local government levels in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), supported the suit, arguing that retaining the parties on INEC’s register would amount to a violation of constitutional provisions governing political party registration.
However, dissatisfied with the judgment, the affected parties and INEC approached the Court of Appeal seeking to overturn the ruling.
It would be recalled that on June 16, the Court of Appeal stayed the execution of the Federal High Court judgment pending the hearing and determination of the appeals. The appellate court also faulted Justice Lifu for continuing with proceedings despite an earlier order directing him to halt the case, describing the action as “a form of judicial impertinence” and referencing the Supreme Court’s description of such conduct as “judicial rascality.”
After hearing arguments from all parties on Tuesday, the appellate panel, comprising Justices Abba Bello Mohammed, Donatus Okorowo, and Oyebisi Oyewumi, reserved judgment and said the date for delivery would be communicated to the parties.
