The Court of Appeal in Abuja has delivered a decisive blow to the deregistration of five political parties, setting aside a Federal High Court judgment that had ordered their removal from the electoral roll. In a unanimous decision delivered on Tuesday by a three-member panel led by Justice Abba Mohammed, the appellate court vacated the June 15 order of Justice Peter Lifu, which had directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to deregister the African Democratic Congress, the Action Peoples Party, the Action Alliance, the Accord Party, and the Zenith Labour Party.
The appellate court held that the High Court wrongly assumed jurisdiction and made its order on an incompetent suit filed by a non-juristic entity, the National Forum of Former Legislators. The court declared the entire proceedings a nullity, emphasizing that the trial judge failed to properly evaluate evidence before him, including proof that the parties had won various seats in previous elections. The panel also noted that Justice Lifu acted in open defiance of a clear order from the Court of Appeal made on May 22 directing him to stay proceedings in the case pending the outcome of an appeal. Despite being notified of this order, the trial judge intentionally flouted it and proceeded to deliver judgment, a conduct the appellate court described as a form of judicial impertinence. The panel cited an earlier Supreme Court ruling which held that a judge who acts in such a manner is unfit for the bench, as the conduct amounts to judicial rascality.
The High Court had originally ordered INEC to deregister the five parties on the grounds that they failed to meet the constitutional requirements for continued existence and participation in future elections, including the performance thresholds set out in Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution. The court had also barred INEC from accepting nominations from the parties or allowing them to participate in the 2027 general elections. However, the appellate court found that the evidence before it clearly showed compliance with constitutional provisions and that the judgment of the trial judge was perverse. Consequently, the Court of Appeal allowed the separate appeals filed by the political parties, restored their registration, and awarded monetary costs against the National Forum of Former Legislators.
The decision has been hailed as a victory for democracy in Nigeria. Counsel to the Action Peoples Party, Barr. Peter Abang, expressed satisfaction with the judgment, stating that the hierarchy of courts in Nigeria must be respected as they establish an unbroken chain of command, and no court has the luxury to sit in judgment against the orders of superior courts. The ruling effectively preserves the registration status of the affected parties ahead of the 2027 general elections, offering a significant reprieve to their candidates, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is the presidential candidate of the ADC, and Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, who is the governorship candidate of the Accord Party.
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