A Federal High Court in Abuja has directed INEC to deregister ADC, APP, AA, AP and ZLP for failing to meet constitutional electoral performance requirements.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC), over their failure to meet constitutional electoral performance requirements.
The court also ordered the deregistration of the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The ruling was delivered by Justice Peter Lifu following a suit instituted by the National Forum of Former Legislators, which challenged the continued registration of political parties that allegedly failed to satisfy constitutional conditions for retaining their status.
In the case, the plaintiffs asked the court to determine whether INEC is legally bound to remove political parties that do not meet the performance benchmarks outlined in Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as well as relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC regulations.
According to the former lawmakers, the affected parties consistently failed to achieve the minimum electoral thresholds required by law.
They argued that the parties neither secured sufficient votes in presidential elections nor won elective positions at the federal, state, or local government levels.
The plaintiffs maintained that the constitution requires political parties to demonstrate a measurable level of electoral support to remain registered.
Such requirements include obtaining at least 25 percent of votes in a state during a presidential election or winning at least one seat in national, state, or local government elections.
Court documents presented during the proceedings indicated that the ADC and the four other parties performed poorly in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections conducted across the country.
The parties were said to have failed to secure representation in key elective offices, falling short of the constitutional standards needed to maintain their registration.
After reviewing the arguments and evidence before the court, Justice Lifu ruled in favour of the plaintiffs and ordered INEC to take the necessary steps to deregister the affected political parties in line with the law.
The judgment is expected to have significant implications for Nigeria’s political landscape, particularly as political parties begin preparations for future electoral contests.
As of the time of filing this report, neither INEC nor the affected political parties had issued official reactions to the court’s decision.
More details soon..
I think we can just create political parties as much as possible in our country
Oh, now I read to the depth, it would be great if standard criteria can be considered on this because we would see thousands of political parties with funny emblems in the years to come