Court orders INEC to de-register ADC, APP, others

From Godwin Tsa Abuja

The Federal High Court has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) as political parties in Nigeria.

Justice Peter Lifu, in a judgment on Monday, further ordered the electoral body to stop the affected political parties from participating and presenting candidates for the 2027 general elections.

The judge agreed with the plaintiffs that the five political parties failed to satisfy the minimum threshold prescribed under section 225 (A) of the Constitution.

The plaintiff, who are former legislators, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, is praying the court to determine whether INEC has a constitutional obligation to remove political parties that fail to meet electoral performance thresholds set out in Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as reinforced by the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC’s regulations.

It is the position of the plaintiff that the five political parties listed as defendants in the suit have persistently failed to meet the constitutional benchmarks required to retain their registration.

The former legislators stressed that some of the requirements include winning at least 25 per cent of votes in a state during a presidential election or securing at least one elective seat at the national, state, or local government level.

They told the court that the ADC and the four other parties performed poorly in both the 2023 general elections and by-elections conducted by INEC, thereby failing to win seats across key tiers of government.

The litigants insisted that the continued existence of the ADC and the other defendants, as recognised political parties, is unlawful and undermines the integrity of the country’s electoral system.

Among other reliefs, the plaintiff urges the court to declare that INEC is duty-bound to deregister such parties.

It further wants the court to compel the commission to deregister the five political parties before preparations for the 2027 elections advance further.