The Court of Appeal in Abuja has postponed the hearing of appeals filed by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties challenging a Federal High Court judgment that ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister them.
A three-member panel of the appellate court, headed by Justice Abba Mohammed, fixed July 7 for the substantive hearing after conducting preliminary proceedings to allow all parties identify and regularise the documents they filed before the court.
Aside from the ADC, the other political parties involved in the appeals are the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The appellate court directed that all the appeals would be heard together on the scheduled date.
Appeal Court Faults Trial Judge
The Court of Appeal had earlier, on June 16, granted a stay of execution of the Federal High Court judgment and criticised the trial judge, Justice Peter Lifu, for proceeding with the matter despite an existing order from the appellate court.
According to the panel, Justice Lifu ignored its May 22 order directing him to suspend proceedings pending the determination of the appeals.
The court held that although the trial judge had been informed of the order, he went ahead to deliver judgment.
Describing the action as “a form of judicial impertinence,” the appellate court noted that the Supreme Court had previously ruled that a judge who behaves in such a manner “is unfit for the bench, as the conduct amounts to judicial rascality”.
High Court Ordered Deregistration
Justice Lifu had ruled that INEC should deregister the five political parties, holding that they failed to satisfy the constitutional requirements necessary to remain registered and participate in future elections.
The judgment also restrained INEC from recognising the affected parties, accepting candidates nominated by them, or allowing them to participate in the 2027 general elections.
The trial court further ordered the parties to stop presenting themselves as registered political parties, after ruling in favour of the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which instituted the suit.
The NFFL asked the court to determine whether INEC had a constitutional obligation to deregister political parties that failed to meet the electoral performance requirements outlined in Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as well as provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC regulations.
According to the plaintiffs, the five political parties consistently failed to meet the constitutional benchmarks required to retain their registration.
They argued that the requirements include securing at least 25 per cent of votes in a state during a presidential election or winning at least one elective position at the federal, state, or local government level.
The former lawmakers maintained that the ADC and the four other parties performed poorly in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections, failing to secure any qualifying electoral victories.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, the affected political parties, alongside INEC, approached the Court of Appeal, asking it to overturn the Federal High Court judgment.
