The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Tuesday reserved judgment in appeals challenging the Federal High Court’s decision ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five opposition political parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The other affected parties are Accord Party, Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Panel Defers Decision After Final Arguments
A three-member panel led by Justice Abba Mohammed fixed no date for judgment after lawyers adopted their written briefs and presented final arguments. The panel stated it would notify the parties when the judgment is ready. The appeals were filed by ADC, APP, AA, Accord, ZLP, and INEC, which were defendants in the lower court.
Appellants’ lawyers, including Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Musibau Adetunbi, urged the court to grant their appeals and set aside the judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja. However, Yakubu Ruba, SAN, representing the plaintiff National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), asked the court to dismiss the appeals and award substantial costs against the appellants.
Court Dismisses Factional Application in AA Appeal
Before hearing the appeals, the court dismissed an application by a faction of AA seeking to replace the party’s lawyer. The faction led by Adekunle Omoaje asked the court to remove Yakubu Mahdi and replace him with Adedola Adedoye. The rival faction led by Kenneth Udeze opposed the request, arguing that earlier court decisions recognized its leadership and that only it could appoint lawyers. Udeze also argued the application was an abuse of process since the leadership dispute was before the Supreme Court.
In a unanimous ruling, the appellate court held that Mahdi was properly instructed by the recognized leadership and remains AA’s lawful lawyer. The court declined to make pronouncements on entries on INEC’s portal, stating the issue did not arise from the interlocutory application. The panel added that previous judgments recognizing the party’s leadership remain valid until the Supreme Court decides otherwise. The court dismissed the application and ordered the Omoaje faction to pay N500,000 costs to the respondents.
Background of the Deregistration Case
The dispute began when NFFL sued INEC, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), and the five opposition parties, asking the Federal High Court to compel INEC to deregister them. NFFL argued the parties no longer satisfied constitutional conditions for continued registration under Section 225(a) of the Constitution due to poor performance in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections, making their continued recognition unconstitutional and detrimental to Nigeria’s electoral system.
The AGF and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, supported the plaintiffs, arguing INEC had a constitutional obligation to deregister parties that no longer met registration requirements. The case gained national significance as some affected parties had become platforms for prominent politicians ahead of the 2027 general elections and off-cycle governorship polls. ADC emerged as a major opposition platform after attracting former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other key figures. Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election bid also thrust Accord Party into public consciousness as the August 15 governorship election approaches.
Appellate Court’s Earlier Intervention
Before Justice Lifu’s judgment, the appellate court had intervened. On May 22, it ordered Justice Lifu to stay further proceedings pending an interlocutory appeal, which stemmed from his rejection of Governor Adeleke’s application to join the suit. Despite the directive, Justice Lifu delivered judgment on June 15, deregistering all five parties. He ordered INEC to remove them from its register and ruled they could not participate in future elections unless the decision was set aside, stating no valid order prevented him from delivering judgment.
INEC and the affected parties appealed, and less than 24 hours later, the appellate court suspended the judgment. In a unanimous ruling by the panel led by Justice A. Muhammed, the court held that Justice Lifu acted in disregard of its earlier stay order, describing his conduct as “judicial impertinence” and “judicial rascality.” The court stayed execution of the deregistration order pending the appeal.
Wider Reactions and Ongoing Litigation
The litigation triggered wider reactions. INEC, which opposed the suit at trial, sought a stay of execution at the appellate court. A civil society organization later petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to investigate Justice Lifu’s conduct over the judgment delivered despite the subsisting appellate court order.
