Court Orders Deregistration Of ADC & Four Other Political Parties

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties over alleged failure to meet constitutional requirements for continued registration.

Justice Peter Lifu, made the order on Monday.

He noted that the affected parties breached Section 225 of the Nigerian constitution.

The section gives INEC the power to deregister political parties that have failed to win any elective position in the previous round of elections at the federal, state and local government levels.

The judgement will lead to disqualification of candidates running for elective offices under the parties in the 2027 general elections and the upcoming off-cycle governorship elections slated for June nas August in Ekiti and Osun states.

The suit was filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators against INEC, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the some political parties.

Other parties listed in the suit and affected by the court’s deregistration order are Accord Party, Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

The plaintiffs argued that the parties did not met the constitutional threshold for continued existence as registered political parties.

They relied on Section 225(a) of the Constitution and provisions of the Electoral Act, insisting the parties who failed to win elective seats or meet minimum requirements in elections.

They asked the court to hold that INEC has a constitutional duty to deregister political parties that fail to meet the legal conditions.

The plaintiffs also sought an order compelling INEC to remove the parties from its register and restrain them from participating in future elections.

The Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, joined as a defendant in the suit, threw his office behind the suit and the prayers sought.