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• Judgment has vindicated us –Party
From Ndubuisi Orji and Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has hailed the verdict of the Court of Appeal that overturned the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which had ordered the de-registration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and some other political parties.
Atiku, ADC presidential candidate, in a statement by his media office, yesterday, said the judgment was more than a victory for the opposition party.
According to him, the judgment was a victory for every Nigerian that believed in the nurturing of democracy through free political competition.
The party said it considered it a significant development as it reinforces an enduring constitutional principle that judicial authority must always be exercised within the bounds of the law, in obedience to superior court orders and on the basis of evidence properly before the court.
The ADC said it has consistently maintained that the proceedings in the suit were fundamentally flawed in law and incapable of producing a valid judgment.
The Federal High Court in Abuja, in a recent judgment, had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to de-register the ADC and some other opposition political parties for allegedly failing to meet the conditions for continued existence as political parties.
However, a three-member panel of the appellate court, in a unanimous decision, held that the order of the Federal High Court to the electoral body on June 15 amounted to a nullity, ruling that the high court wrongly assumed jurisdiction on an incompetent suit filed by a non-juristic entity.
The appellate court held that no valid suit existed to warrant the consequential order directing INEC to derecognise the parties. It found that the trial court failed to properly evaluate evidence before it, noting that proof the parties had won various seats in previous elections was disregarded. The panel further held that the high court acted in defiance of an earlier order to stay proceedings and ought to have dismissed the substantive case for want of jurisdiction and merit.
In the lead judgment by Justice Abba Mohammed, the appellate court held that all the affected political parties remained duly registered. It allowed separate appeals filed by the parties and awarded monetary costs against the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which had filed the original case against them.
Aside from the ADC, the other parties whose registration was restored are the Action Peoples Party (APP), the Action Alliance (AA), the Accord Party (AP) and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The appellate court had, on June 16, ordered a stay of execution of the High Court judgment, while faulting the trial judge for disregarding judicial hierarchy. The panel berated Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja for disobeying its May 22 order directing him to stay proceedings pending the outcome of the parties’ appeal, noting that he had gone ahead to deliver judgment despite being aware of the stay order.
The appellate court described Justice Lifu’s conduct as a form of judicial impertinence, citing an earlier Supreme Court holding that a judge who acts in such a manner is unfit for the bench, as the conduct amounts to judicial rascality.
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The High Court had earlier directed INEC to deregister the five parties over their alleged failure to meet constitutional requirements for continued existence and participation in future elections, and had barred INEC from recognising them, accepting their candidates’ nominations or giving effect to their activities for the 2027 general elections. Justice Lifu had also ordered the parties to stop parading themselves as registered political parties, saying he found merit in NFFL’s suit.
The NFFL, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, had asked the court to determine whether INEC has a constitutional obligation to remove parties that fail to meet the electoral performance thresholds under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as reinforced by the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC’s regulations. It argued that the parties failed to meet the constitutional benchmarks, winning at least 25 percent of votes in a state during a presidential election, or at least one elective seat at the national, state or local government level and had performed poorly in both the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections.
Notably, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, also a defendant in the matter, had backed the plaintiffs, arguing in court processes that the parties’ continued existence violated the 1999 Constitution and undermined the nation’s electoral integrity.
Dissatisfied with the trial court’s verdict, all the defendants, including INEC, had urged the appellate court to set it aside.
Atiku, while congratulating the Appeal Court justices for their courage and fidelity to the Nigerian Constitution, said the judgment was a re-affirmation that judiciary remains the last hope of the common man.
“We warmly welcome the landmark judgment of the Court of Appeal, which set aside the erroneous judgment of the Federal High Court that sought to remove the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and other political parties from Nigeria’s democratic space.
“We congratulate the learned Justices of the Court of Appeal for their courage, fidelity to the Constitution and unwavering commitment to justice. “Their judgment is a reassuring affirmation that the judiciary remains the last hope of the common man and the ultimate guardian of constitutional democracy.
“At a time when many Nigerians are anxious about the future of democratic governance, the Court has demonstrated that justice, when courageously dispensed, remains the strongest defence against arbitrariness.
“With this Court of Appeal judgment validating the legal status of ADC plus the judgment of Justice Liman of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, affirming the Election of Senator David Mark’s led exco of ADC, the party has finally navigated its ways to the ballot for the 2027 general elections as there’s no suit pending that challenges its leadership again.
“The appellate court rightly held that the judgment delivered on June 15 by Justice Lifu was a nullity, having been rendered in disobedience to a subsisting order of the Court of Appeal. It further found that the respondents lacked the locus standi to institute the action, describing their claims as speculative and legally unsustainable.
“This judgment is far more than a legal victory for the ADC. It is a victory for every Nigerian, who believes that democracy must be nurtured through free political competition rather than strangled through speculative litigation. The strength of a democracy lies not in the exclusion of political opponents but in allowing the people to freely determine their leaders through the ballot.
“We urge anti-democratic forces to resist the dangerous temptation of using the courts and other institutions of the state as instruments of political engineering. The judiciary must never be transformed into a battlefield for eliminating political competitors or shrinking the democratic space. Such conduct undermines public confidence in our institutions and diminishes the sacrifices made by countless Nigerians in the struggle to enthrone constitutional democracy.
“As the nation moves steadily towards the 2027 general election, political contests must be settled by the votes of Nigerians, not by contrived lawsuits designed to achieve through the courtroom what cannot be won at the ballot box,” he stated.
