INEC Seeks Appeal Court Order to Stop Enforcement of Judgment Deregistering ADC, Four Other Parties

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja, seeking an order to halt the enforcement of a Federal High Court judgment that directed the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.

The affected parties are the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

During proceedings on Tuesday before a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, INEC's legal team argued that it was surprised by the delivery of the judgment by Justice Peter Lifu, despite an earlier order issued by the appellate court on May 22, which the commission said was intended to stop the lower court from delivering its verdict.

INEC told the court that it was not formally notified of the judgment and only became aware of the ruling through media reports. The electoral body also expressed support for the notice of appeal filed by the affected political parties.

"My Lords, we are aware of an order that this court made on May 22, which stopped the delivery of the judgment of the lower court, which was initially reserved for June 5," INEC's counsel said.

"We were not aware of any notice from the court regarding the delivery of the judgment. We only saw it as breaking news in the media. We therefore do not oppose the application of the appellants to stay the execution of the judgment."

Lawyers representing the political parties argued that the Federal High Court acted in disregard of the judicial hierarchy, warning that enforcing the judgment could disrupt by-elections scheduled to take place in six states on June 20.

They urged the Court of Appeal to exercise its supervisory powers by immediately suspending the judgment pending the determination of the appeal.

"Sincerely, my Lords, a lot has happened to the judiciary and this profession. What the trial judge did was dare this Court of Appeal by insisting that no one could arrest his judgment, even after his attention was drawn to the stay order from this court," counsel submitted.

"The action of the trial judge calls for swift and extraordinary measures from this court. We have come to the stage where this court should press the reset button.

"We urge this court to take immediate steps to suspend the judgment and protect the integrity of the judicial process."

The suit that resulted in the deregistration order was filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which argued that the five political parties failed to meet the requirements of Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022.

According to the group, political parties must win at least one elective seat or secure a minimum of 25 per cent of votes in at least one state during a presidential election to retain their registration status.