29th July, 2013
Nnamdi Felix / Abuja
Reprieve came the way of aggrieved deregistered political parties in Nigeria as Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court on Monday nullified the deregistration of political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The court also declared section 78 (7) (ii) of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, which said parties must win seats in the state and national assembly election as null and void.
These were contained in the court’s judgment in a suit filed by Pastor Chris Okotie led Fresh Democratic Party on which platform the controversial pastor contested the Presidential election in 2011.
Okotie and his party had approached the court seeking for a declaration that section 78 (7) (ii) of the Electoral Act, 2010 is unconstitutional, invalid, null and void to the extent that if offends the provisions of section 40 and sections 221-229 of the 1999 Constitution.
They asked the court to hold that INEC cannot deregister the party except in accordance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and faulted the purported reliance by INEC on section 78 (7) (ii) of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, in deregistering Fresh Democratic Party without first hearing from the political party and insisted that the policy violated the provisions of sections 36, 38 and 40, as well as sections 221-222 of the 1999 Constitution, and paragraph 15 of the 3rd schedule (part 10 of the Constitution) among others.
The electoral umpire, Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, the National Assembly and the Inspector General of Police were listed as defendants in the suit.
“The criteria by which the National Assembly delimited deregistration to failure to win seat in state and National Assembly elections appears like nothing but legislative arbitrariness, since INEC has powers to conduct other elections. INEC would not have lost anything by issuing the Fresh Democratic Party with a query to enhance the integrity of its decision” the court noted.
Continuing, the court observed that the statutory powers conferred on INEC can be described as ministerial but that when such power concerns deregistration of a political party, it becomes a quasi judicial power because after registration a political party becomes a legal entity and acquires a legal right and a decision to take away such legal rights cannot be taken without according the political party a hearing.
“Section 78 (7) (ii) of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, is hereby declared null and void, in so far as Fresh Democratic Party was not heard before the decision was taken, the said decision is null and void” the court held.
The electoral commission’s decision deregistering the party and others, dated December 6, 2012 was thereafter declared invalid and was consequently set aside by the court.
The court however denied the party one of its prayers for the payment of N10 million to it by the electoral body.