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Voids Umar Ardo’s registration steps
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A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to generate and release a registration access code to the Chief Akin Ricketts-led leadership of the All Democratic Alliance (ADA), clearing the path for the party’s registration.
Justice Peter Lifu, in a judgment delivered Monday, gave INEC 72 hours to release the code to ADA’s pro-tem secretary after ruling that the electoral body acted illegally by issuing the code to one Umar Ardo, whom the court found was not a recognised officer of the party.
The judge declared INEC’s earlier action null and void and voided all subsequent steps taken on the party’s behalf using that code, including any documents Ardo uploaded to the commission’s portal.
The court also ordered INEC to reopen its portal for one week to allow the Ricketts-led leadership to upload ADA’s membership register and other required documents.
The suit was filed by Stephen Atabo on behalf of the Ricketts faction against INEC and Ardo.
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The plaintiffs argued that INEC had never properly issued them an access code despite their compliance with registration requirements and that handing the code to Ardo, who they said held no recognised position in the party, violated extant electoral law.
They also sought to nullify any information Ardo uploaded on the party’s behalf, arguing it conflicted with details in their original letter of intent.
Beyond the access code, the plaintiffs had asked the court to order INEC to register ADA as a political party and issue it a certificate of registration and to extend the commission’s May 10 and May 30, 2026 deadlines for submitting the digital membership register and list of candidates, respectively.
Justice Lifu found that Ardo was neither the party’s pro-tem national chairman nor its secretary and, on that basis, nullified the steps taken in his name.
The judge granted INEC 72 hours to comply, short of the 96 hours the plaintiffs had requested.
