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The presidential candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Dan Nwanyanwu, has criticised the Federal High Court ruling ordering the deregistration of five political parties, describing the judgment as a “travesty of justice” and a threat to Nigeria’s judicial credibility.
Nwanyanwu made the remarks during an interview on ARISE News on Monday after Justice Peter Lifu ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party, Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP) and ZLP.
He argued that the ruling was delivered in defiance of an existing order from the Court of Appeal.
“What happened today is a travesty of justice. What happened today can never be accommodated in the legal practice.”
Questioning the conduct of the lower court, Nwanyanwu said the matter had already been stayed by the appellate court.
“The proceedings in this court have been stayed by the Court of Appeal. This particular judge, Peter Lifu, wanted to give judgment on the 5th of this month, and when he saw the stay, he couldn’t deliver the judgment.
“Just this morning around 8:00 or 9:00, he sent hearing notices to all the parties to be in court, and they gave their judgment. So, you ask yourself, is there no more respect to the hierarchy of courts?”
He maintained that the judge was fully aware of the ongoing appellate proceedings but chose to proceed nonetheless.
“In fact, his attention was drawn to the appeal. His attention was drawn to the proceedings in the Court of Appeal. He chose to ignore it. That is irresponsible, with the greatest respect.
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“It is something that will now expose all that has been going on within the judiciary, particularly in the Federal High Court.”
Nwanyanwu also challenged claims that the affected parties failed to meet constitutional requirements for continued registration, insisting that ZLP had exceeded the minimum electoral threshold.
“INEC has powers to register and de-register political parties, and 225 has given you conditions. Under 225, all that a political party is expected to win in order to pass this threshold is just one councillor.
“In the case of our party, we won 15 local governments. We won 176 councillors in Abia, Nasarawa, and Rivers, even before they took that of Rivers. So, we have passed the threshold, and we deposited all the certificates of returns before Lifu.”
He further alleged that the court ignored critical evidence before arriving at its decision.
“In his own wisdom, he didn’t look at them because he was working on a script. I dare say he worked on a script because if he had seen those certificates of returns, it would be different.”
Nwanyanwu disclosed that the matter is already before the Court of Appeal, where another hearing is scheduled.
“The plaintiff went to the Court of Appeal to persuade the Court of Appeal to set aside his stay of execution on the case before the lower court. That matter is coming up tomorrow. So, he decided to give his judgment today. It’s going to be interesting.”
The ruling has sparked fresh debate over the future of smaller political parties and the independence of Nigeria’s judicial process ahead of the 2027 general election. ZLP and other affected parties have vowed to challenge the decision through all available legal channels.
