Appeal Court Halts Deregistration Of ADC, Accord, Others, Slams Trial Judge

June 16, () — The Court of Appeal in Abuja has ordered an immediate stay of execution of the controversial Federal High Court judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party and three other political parties

In a ruling delivered on Tuesday, a three-member panel of the appellate court not only suspended enforcement of the judgment but also strongly reprimanded Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, for proceeding to hear the matter and deliver judgment despite an earlier order of the Court of Appeal and the pendency of the case before it.

The appellate court held that Justice Lifu acted in clear disregard of judicial hierarchy and accused the trial judge of exhibiting what it described as “judicial rascality” by proceeding with the case in spite of subsisting orders restraining him from doing so.

The court subsequently granted an order staying execution of the judgment pending determination of substantive issues surrounding the appeal.

The ruling came after INEC itself backed appeals filed by the affected political parties and urged the appellate court to stop enforcement of the Federal High Court judgment.

Represented by a legal team led by Haliru Mohammed, INEC informed the appellate court that the commission was surprised by Justice Lifu’s decision to proceed with delivery of judgment despite an earlier order issued on May 22 restraining the lower court from taking further action.

According to the commission, it was never formally notified about delivery of the judgment and only became aware of the development through media reports.

“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 delivery on June 5.

“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 appellant to stay execution of the judgment,” counsel to INEC told the court.

Counsel representing ADC, Shuaibu Aruwa, SAN, had earlier told the appellate court that Justice Lifu communicated notice of judgment delivery to the party through WhatsApp, describing the action as a direct affront to the authority of the appellate court.

The senior lawyer urged the Court of Appeal to invoke disciplinary powers against the trial judge, arguing that the conduct amounted to open defiance of superior court authority.

Justice Lifu had on Monday ordered INEC to deregister five political parties after ruling that they failed to satisfy constitutional requirements necessary to remain legally registered under Nigeria’s electoral laws.

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

In the judgment, Justice Lifu held that the parties failed to meet the constitutional threshold stipulated under Section 225 of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers INEC to deregister political parties that fail to satisfy prescribed constitutional requirements.

The trial judge consequently barred INEC from recognising the affected parties, accepting candidate nominations from them or permitting them to participate in political activities connected to the 2027 general elections.

He also ordered the parties to immediately stop parading themselves as legally registered political parties in Nigeria.

The judgment followed a suit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators, which argued that the parties had persistently failed to meet constitutional electoral performance thresholds required to justify continued registration.

The plaintiffs maintained that the parties performed poorly during the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections, failing to secure the electoral benchmarks required under the Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022.