An Abuja Federal High Court presided over by Justice Anwuli Chikere has affirmed the deregistration of 32 political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
In a judgment delivered yesterday, Justice Chikere dismissed the suit filed by parties against INEC on the grounds that they failed to prove their case.
On February 6, INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, announced the deregistration of 74 political parties for failing to meet the minimum criteria provided for by section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which include: “Failure to win at least 25 per cent of the votes cast in one state in a presidential election or 25 per cent of votes cast in one local government area, and failure to win at least one ward in a chairmanship election, one seat in the national or state assembly election or one seat in a councillorship election.”
Aggrieved, some of the parties jointly filed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/444/2019 asking the court to determine whether INEC had the constitutional power to deregister them.
The judge had on February 17, granted a restraining order against INEC pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
In his judgment, Chikere held that the commission lawfully deregistered the parties as enshrined in the provision of section 225(a) of the Nigerian constitution.