NDC challenges court ruling, begins candidate upload on INEC portal
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has appealed the Federal High Court judgment that nullified its registration, saying it has also commenced uploading the names of its candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal.
National leader of the party, Seriake Dickson, disclosed this on Monday, explaining that the appeal and an application for a stay of execution had been filed and served on INEC.
Dickson said the party had been granted access to the commission’s portal, adding that his name and that of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, had already been uploaded, while the vice-presidential candidate’s details would follow after the completion of necessary documentation.
The appeal followed a recent ruling by the Federal High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, which set aside its earlier judgment directing INEC to register the NDC as a political party. The court held that the previous decision was reached without hearing all necessary parties and ordered that the case be heard afresh.
The ruling came after the Peace Movement Party argued that it had a legal interest in the matter and should have been joined in the original suit. The court also held that material facts were not fully disclosed during the earlier proceedings.
“Today, the NDC has filed an appeal against the ruling as well as a stay of execution. What is left is the administrative process of submitting the names to INEC, and we have been granted access to the portal to upload our qualified candidates. My name and that of the presidential candidate have been uploaded to the INEC portal. There is enough time for all candidates’ names to be submitted to INEC, and there is no reason for anyone to panic,” Dickson said.
He acknowledged concerns over the party’s primary elections, describing the process as imperfect, but said reconciliation efforts had begun to unite aggrieved aspirants and strengthen the party ahead of the elections.
Dickson urged Nigerians to remain calm and called on INEC, the judiciary and security agencies to remain impartial in protecting Nigeria’s democracy, expressing confidence that the courts would determine the matter in accordance with the law.
