BREAKING: INEC moves to halt court order deregistering ADC, other political parties

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja seeking a stay of execution of a Federal High Court judgment that ordered the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.

The electoral body also backed the notices of appeal filed by the affected parties, arguing that the judgment should not be allowed to take effect pending the determination of the appeals.

At proceedings before a three-member panel of the appellate court on Tuesday, INEC, through its counsel, Haliru Mohammed, expressed surprise that the Federal High Court delivered the judgment despite an earlier order of the Court of Appeal halting its delivery.

According to the commission, the judgment was delivered without prior notice to the parties. Mohammed told the court that INEC only became aware of the development through media reports, stressing that the commission was not informed of any new date for the judgment after it had initially been reserved for June 5. INEC consequently informed the appellate court that it did not oppose the application filed by the political parties seeking to stay the execution of the judgment.

Counsel to the ADC, Shuaibu Aruwa (SAN), also challenged the decision of the trial court, alleging that the judge proceeded with the judgment despite being aware of the appellate court’s stay order. He urged the Court of Appeal to take urgent steps to protect the integrity of the judicial process, describing the lower court’s action as a challenge to the authority of the appellate court.

Lawyers representing the affected parties further argued that allowing the judgment to stand could create legal complications ahead of scheduled by-elections in six states on June 20. They maintained that the appellate court possesses supervisory powers to prevent lower courts from disregarding its directives.

The Federal High Court had ordered INEC to deregister the ADC, Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), ruling that the parties failed to satisfy constitutional requirements necessary to retain their registration. The court also restrained INEC from recognising the parties, accepting their candidates for elections, or permitting them to participate in the 2027 general elections.

The judgment followed a suit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which argued that the affected parties failed to meet constitutional electoral performance benchmarks, including securing a minimum percentage of votes in presidential elections or winning elective offices at the national, state, or local government levels. The Court of Appeal is expected to rule after hearing all parties in the matter.