The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Tuesday issued a stay of execution on the judgement of the Federal High Court that ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties. In a unanimous ruling, a three-member panel of the appellate court strongly rebuked Federal High Court Judge Peter Lifu for delivering the judgement in violation of a prior order from the Court of Appeal halting proceedings.
Appeal Court Rebukes Trial Judge
Justice A. Muhammed, who delivered the lead ruling, described the conduct of Justice Lifu in deregistering the five opposition parties despite the appellate court's stay order as "judicial impertinence". The panel held that the trial judge's action amounted to a "brazen disregard for judicial authority" and "judicial rascality".
Background of the Controversial Judgement
The Court of Appeal's intervention came barely 24 hours after Justice Lifu delivered the controversial judgement on Monday, ordering INEC to deregister the ADC, Accord, Action Alliance, Action Peoples Party, and Zenith Labour Party. Some of these parties have established themselves as formidable rivals to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in upcoming national and off-cycle governorship elections.
The ruling offered a lifeline to ADC's presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, who is seeking re-election on the Accord platform in the 15 August off-cycle governorship election. Without the stay, the judgement could have automatically disqualified them months before the elections.
Details of the Suit
Justice Lifu delivered the judgement in a suit filed by the little-known National Forum of Former Legislators against INEC and the affected political parties. The group sought to compel INEC to remove the parties from its register for allegedly failing to meet constitutional requirements under Section 225(a) of the Nigerian constitution. Despite lawyers to some of the affected parties informing him of a pending appeal, Justice Lifu proceeded to deliver judgement, holding that no valid stay order had been served on the court.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, who was sued as a co-defendant, backed the suit. However, INEC, which initially opposed the suit, approached the Court of Appeal on Tuesday seeking a stay of execution.
Court of Appeal Proceedings
During the proceedings, INEC's lawyer, Haliru Mohammed, told the appellate court that the commission was shocked by the trial court's decision and only learned of the judgement through media reports. He noted that the Court of Appeal had earlier, on 22 May, ordered a stay of proceedings at the Federal High Court pending the determination of an appeal. "We were not aware of any notice from the court regarding the delivery of the judgement. We only saw it as breaking news in the media," Mr Mohammed said.
Lawyer to ADC, Shuaibu Aruwa (SAN), also told the court that the Federal High Court proceeded despite the subsisting order, describing it as a breach of judicial order. He maintained that "what the trial judge did was dare this Court of Appeal by insisting that no one could arrest his judgment." Other lawyers urged the court to suspend execution to avoid electoral and administrative confusion.
Granting the applications, the Court of Appeal invoked its supervisory powers and suspended execution of the judgement pending the determination of the appeal. The court said it would continue hearing the substantive appeal on 25 June.
Reactions from Affected Parties
Affected political parties have criticised the Federal High Court judgement, describing it as an attempt to weaken opposition parties ahead of elections. The National Publicity Secretary of ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the party had activated its legal team to challenge the decision. "The ADC will vigorously challenge this judgment through every lawful and constitutional avenue available to us. We shall mobilise all democratic stakeholders," he stated.
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, speaking during a press briefing, argued that the matter was already before the Court of Appeal, which had adjourned proceedings until October. He described the Federal High Court ruling as an abuse of court process. "Our lawyers have taken necessary steps to right the wrong. It is on record that the Court of Appeal had stayed proceedings on the matter till October. We are therefore surprised that the lower court proceeded to act on a matter already acted upon by the higher court," the governor said.
Additionally, a civil society organisation, Tap Initiative for Citizens' Development, petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, and the National Judicial Council, seeking an investigation into Justice Lifu's conduct and possible sanction.
