Court of Appeal Halts Execution of Judgment Deregistering ADC, Four Other Political Parties

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Tuesday ordered a stay of execution of the Federal High Court judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

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In a unanimous decision delivered by a three-member panel, the appellate court suspended the enforcement of the judgment pending the determination of an appeal challenging the ruling.

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

Delivering the lead ruling, Justice A. Muhammed strongly criticised the Federal High Court judge, Justice Peter Lifu, for proceeding to deliver judgment despite an earlier order of the Court of Appeal directing that proceedings be stayed pending the hearing of an appeal.

The appellate court described the action as a disregard for judicial authority and supervisory jurisdiction, characterising it as “judicial impertinence” and “judicial rascality.”

Justice Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had on Monday ordered INEC to deregister the five opposition parties following a suit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators.

The plaintiff argued that the parties had failed to meet constitutional requirements necessary to retain their registration status under Section 225(a) of the 1999 Constitution.

Despite objections from lawyers representing some of the affected parties, who informed the court that the matter was already before the Court of Appeal, Justice Lifu proceeded to deliver judgment, insisting that no valid order restraining the court had been served on him.

The ruling immediately raised concerns over the political future of several candidates contesting forthcoming elections under the affected parties.

At Tuesday’s proceedings, INEC urged the Court of Appeal to suspend the execution of the judgment.

Counsel to the commission, Haliru Mohammed, told the court that INEC only became aware of the judgment through media reports and was not informed of any scheduled delivery of the ruling by the Federal High Court.

According to him, the Court of Appeal had earlier, on 22 May, ordered a stay of proceedings in the matter pending the determination of an appeal.

“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,” Mohammed told the court.

INEC subsequently aligned itself with the appeal filed by the affected political parties.

Counsel to ADC, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Shuaibu Aruwa, argued that the Federal High Court’s decision amounted to a direct violation of a subsisting order of the Court of Appeal.

He urged the appellate court to take decisive action to protect its authority, stating that the trial judge’s actions challenged the supremacy of the higher court.

Other lawyers representing the affected parties warned that immediate enforcement of the judgment could disrupt preparations for upcoming elections and create administrative uncertainty.

The Court of Appeal agreed and granted the applications seeking a stay of execution, while fixing June 25 for the continuation of hearing on the substantive appeal.

The appellate court’s intervention provides temporary relief to the affected political parties and their candidates ahead of key elections.

Among those expected to benefit from the ruling are ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar and Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, who is seeking re-election on the Accord Party platform in the state’s governorship election scheduled for August 15.

Without the stay of execution, the parties risked losing their legal status and, by extension, the eligibility of their candidates to participate in upcoming electoral contests.

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The Federal High Court judgment has continued to attract widespread criticism from political stakeholders and civil society groups.

The ADC described the ruling as an attempt to weaken opposition parties ahead of future elections and vowed to challenge it through all available legal means.

Similarly, Governor Adeleke criticised the judgment as an abuse of court process, arguing that the matter was already before the Court of Appeal, which had ordered a halt to proceedings at the lower court.

Meanwhile, the civil society organisation, Tap Initiative for Citizens’ Development, has petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the National Judicial Council (NJC), calling for an investigation into Justice Lifu’s conduct and appropriate sanctions if any wrongdoing is established.

The Court of Appeal’s decision has effectively preserved the status of the affected political parties pending the final determination of the appeal.This version follows a straight-news format without subheadings, making it suitable for newspaper, online news, and wire-service publication.