The nation’s judiciary has again come under spotlight with conflucting court rulings that analysts say have the potential of further heating up the polity.
Specifically, a Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC), over their alleged failure to meet constitutional requirements for continued registration.
Justice Peter Lifu delivered the judgment on Monday in a suit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators, which challenged the continued recognition of the parties by INEC.
The court directed INEC to remove the African Democratic Congress, Action Alliance, Action Peoples Party, Accord Party and Zenith Labour Party from the register of political parties.
The judgment followed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, in which the plaintiffs asked the court to determine whether INEC had a constitutional obligation to deregister political parties that failed to satisfy performance thresholds outlined in Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022 and relevant INEC regulations.
In another court ruling earlier, a Federal High Court sitting in Owerri has dismissed a suit challenging the legal status of the Action People’s Party (APP) ruling that the political party was never deregistered by the Independent National Electoral Commission ,INEC, and remains a duly recognized political party under Nigerian law.
In a judgment that could have significant implications for the country’s electoral landscape, the court rejected all reliefs sought by the plaintiff, who had asked the court to compel INEC to remove APP from its register of political parties on the grounds that it was allegedly deregistered during the commission’s 2020 exercise that affected 74 political parties.
The plaintiff had argued that APP’s participation in electoral activities, including the 2024 Rivers State Government Elections and local council polls in Jigawa State, was unlawful because the party had purportedly ceased to exist following the February 6, 2020 deregistration exercise.
To support the claim, the plaintiff relied on media reports and a Supreme Court judgment affirming INEC’s powers to deregister political parties that failed to meet constitutional requirements.
However, the court found that the plaintiff failed to establish that APP was ever lawfully deregistered.
Delivering judgment, the court held that evidence before it showed that APP had, on the very day the deregistration exercise was announced, approached the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and obtained an order restraining INEC from taking any action affecting its status pending the determination of its judicial review proceedings.
The court noted that the enrolled order, tendered by APP, directed that the leave granted for judicial review should operate as a stay of all actions connected with the subject matter of the suit.
According to the court, the plaintiff failed to controvert the authenticity of the order or prove that it was invalid.
“I find on the evidence that the 3rd Defendant instituted an action against the 1st Defendant and obtained an order stopping the 1st Defendant from taking any action in respect of deregistering the 3rd Defendant,” the judge held.
The court further rejected the plaintiff’s argument that an interim order could not remain effective for nearly six years, explaining that the order in question was not an ordinary interim injunction but a stay granted in judicial review proceedings.
Citing Order 44 Rule 3(6) of the FCT High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, the judge held that such a stay remains in force until the determination of the substantive application or until the court orders otherwise.
The court also agreed with INEC and APP that the Supreme Court decision relied upon by the plaintiff did not specifically address APP’s status, as the party was not a litigant in the proceedings that culminated in the apex court’s judgment.
INEC maintained throughout the proceedings that APP remained a registered political party and denied allegations of fraud or collusion in retaining the party on its register.
The electoral body argued that the media reports cited by the plaintiff did not constitute official evidence of deregistration and insisted that its actions had always been guided by subsisting court orders and judicial pronouncements.
APP, in its defence, insisted that it was never among the parties lawfully deregistered by INEC and tendered court judgments supporting its position.
The party also denied allegations that its continued participation in elections was fraudulent, maintaining that all its electoral activities were conducted within the framework of the law.
In its final determination, the court resolved all five issues submitted for adjudication against the plaintiff and dismissed the suit in its entirety.
The judge was particularly critical of the action, describing it as one that ought not to have been instituted in the first place.
According to the court, the plaintiff was aware from the extensive searches he claimed to have conducted that APP had not been deregistered and that previous court decisions had already affirmed the party’s status.Security Agencies Arrest 46 Undocumented Foreign Nationals In Ogun State
“The plaintiff merely wasted the time of the court and the defendants,” the judge ruled while awarding punitive costs against him.
The judgment effectively reinforces APP’s legal standing and clears the party to continue participating in electoral activities as a registered political party recognized by INEC.
Infact, the ADC leadership crisis took a new turn tecently as the party publicly accused senior APC chieftains amd other enemies of the party in government of instigating the dispute and using the judiciary to advance political interests.
In a statement, the party urged Justice Lifu to recuse himself from hearing the case, citing concerns over impartiality and the need to preserve public confidence in the courts.
Political analysts say the flurry of court cases involving parties is heating up the polity at a time when insecurity remains a major national concern. They warned that over-reliance on judicial intervention in party matters risks eroding trust in both the political and judicial systems, and could distract from urgent governance priorities.
The court’s rulings are expected to be appealed, setting the stage for further legal contestation in the coming weeks.
However, the National Chairman of ADC, Senator David Mark, has urged members, supporters and candidates of the party not to lose hope following Monday’s judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordering the deregistration of the party and four others.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, after Mark received a delegation of ADC candidates in Abuja, the former Senate President described the judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu as “an arrow fired at the heart of Nigeria’s democracy” and insisted that the decision would not stand.
According to him, the party remains confident that the ruling would be overturned through the judicial process.
He further argued that the Court of Appeal had earlier granted a stay of proceedings in the matter and fixed October 27, 2027, for further hearing, raising questions over the validity of a judgment delivered despite what he described as a subsisting appellate order.
“The judgment cannot stand. It will be set aside because it does not pass the test of law and due process. Our democracy must be protected from actions that seek to undermine the constitutional rights of political parties and the choices available to Nigerians,” Mark said.
He urged party faithful across the country to remain calm and focused, assuring them that the development would not stop the ADC’s preparations for the next general elections.
“The ADC will be on the ballot in 2027. I assure all our candidates, members and supporters that this temporary setback will be overcome through the judicial process. We remain resolute and confident in the rule of law,” he added.
Mark also reaffirmed the party’s commitment to strengthening democratic institutions and presenting what he described as a credible political alternative ahead of the 2027 elections.
Monday’s ruling by Justice Lifu had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside Accord Party, Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), following a suit challenging their continued registration.
However, ADC maintains that legal proceedings remain active and insists the judgment would be challenged at higher courts.
