BREAKING: Appeal Court Set To Decide Fate Of ADC, Four Other Political Parties Today

The Court of Appeal in Abuja is expected to resume hearing today in the legal challenge over the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The appeal seeks to overturn a Federal High Court judgment that directed INEC to remove the affected parties from its register.

According to Vanguard, the case will be heard by a three-member panel led by Justice Abba Mohammed.

The appellate court had, on June 25, concluded preliminary proceedings, allowing all parties to regularise and adopt their court filings before fixing the matter for substantive hearing.

Besides the ADC, the other political parties contesting the High Court judgment are the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

The legal dispute has remained active after the Court of Appeal, on June 16, stayed the execution of the High Court’s judgment pending the determination of the appeals.

The appellate court also criticised the trial judge, Justice Peter Lifu, for proceeding to deliver judgment despite an earlier order directing him to suspend further proceedings until the appeal was determined.

According to the Court of Appeal, Justice Lifu had been notified of the appellate court’s May 22 order but nevertheless proceeded to deliver judgment. The panel described the action as inconsistent with established judicial procedure, citing previous Supreme Court decisions that frowned on such conduct.

Justice Lifu had ruled that INEC should deregister the five political parties after holding that they failed to satisfy the constitutional requirements necessary to remain registered and participate in future elections.

The judgment further restrained INEC from recognising the parties, accepting candidates sponsored by them or allowing them to participate in activities leading to the 2027 general elections.

In addition, the court directed the affected parties to stop presenting themselves as registered political parties, agreeing with the arguments advanced by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL).

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, the NFFL asked the court to determine whether INEC has a constitutional obligation under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022 and the commission’s regulations to deregister political parties that fail to meet the required electoral performance threshold.

The group argued that the ADC and the four other parties had consistently failed to meet the constitutional benchmarks required to retain their registration.

According to the plaintiffs, political parties are expected to secure at least 25 per cent of the votes in a state during a presidential election or win at least one elective office at the federal, state or local government level.

They maintained that the affected parties failed to meet those benchmarks during the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections, arguing that allowing them to remain registered would undermine Nigeria’s electoral framework.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, who is also a defendant in the suit, backed the plaintiffs’ position.

In court filings, the Attorney General argued that retaining political parties that no longer satisfy constitutional requirements is inconsistent with the law and maintained that, without judicial intervention, INEC would continue to neglect its constitutional responsibility.

INEC, however, alongside the five affected political parties, has challenged the High Court ruling and is urging the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgment and restore the parties’ legal status.