A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties over their alleged failure to meet constitutional requirements for retaining registration.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The affected political parties are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The judgment followed a suit filed by a group of former lawmakers, who asked the court to determine whether INEC is constitutionally obligated to deregister political parties that fail to satisfy the performance thresholds outlined in Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The plaintiffs argued that the five political parties had consistently failed to meet the constitutional conditions necessary to maintain their registration. These conditions include securing at least 25 percent of votes in a state during a presidential election or winning elective positions at the federal, state, or local government levels.
According to the plaintiffs, the parties failed to attain the required electoral performance during the 2023 general election as well as subsequent by-elections conducted by INEC.
They contended that allowing the parties to remain registered despite their poor electoral performance was contrary to constitutional provisions and detrimental to the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process.
The former lawmakers further urged the court to compel INEC to deregister the parties before preparations for the 2027 general election gather momentum.
In addition, the plaintiffs sought orders restraining the affected parties from participating in elections, conducting party primaries, organizing political rallies, or engaging in other political activities pending compliance with constitutional requirements.
Delivering judgment, Justice Peter Lifu upheld the arguments presented by the plaintiffs and ordered INEC to deregister the five political parties.
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