Party Deregistration: ADC, Accord, others to know fate March 24

A Federal High Court in Abuja will on March 24 decide a case asking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister four political parties, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party (AP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and Action Alliance (AA).

Justice Peter Lifu fixed the date after listening to arguments on a request to join more parties to the suit.

The case was filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL) against INEC, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the affected political parties. At first, only ADC was listed in the suit, but it was later amended to include the other parties.

The NFFL argues that INEC should deregister any political party that fails to meet certain constitutional requirements.

These include scoring at least 25 per cent of votes in one state during a presidential election or winning seats at any level of government.

In an affidavit sworn by its Board of Trustees Chairman and National Coordinator, Igbokwe Raphael Nnanna, the group accused INEC of failing to enforce these rules.

According to the NFFL, some parties have not won any elective positions or met the required benchmarks since they were registered, yet they are still recognised by INEC.

The group is asking the court to order INEC to enforce the constitutional provisions. It also wants the court to stop the commission from allowing the affected parties to take part in the 2027 general elections unless they meet the requirements.

The NFFL said allowing them to participate would overcrowd ballot papers, waste public funds and weaken the electoral system.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Justice Lifu asked the two lawyers representing Action Alliance  Ibrahim Yakubu and Bello Lukman  to agree on who would officially appear for the party before the next court date.

Lawyer to Accord Party, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), asked for permission to file another counter-affidavit to oppose the request to join more parties to the suit. He said some important facts were left out earlier.

However, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Yakubu Ruba (SAN), opposed the request. He argued that no new facts were added in the amended suit and described the application as incompetent.

After the hearing, Ruba said the case is mainly about getting the court to interpret constitutional and legal provisions guiding the registration and continued recognition of political parties in Nigeria.