Court Orders INEC To Deregister ADC, Accord, Three Others
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja issued a directive on Monday for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress and four other political parties due to their failure to meet the constitutional criteria for political parties in the country.
In his judgment, Justice Lifu emphasized that the parties in question should be deregistered as they did not achieve 25 percent of the votes in the most recent general elections, in accordance with legal provisions.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the five political parties are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord (A), Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Justice Lifu, after dismissing all preliminary objections raised by the defendants, instructed INEC to prevent these parties from participating in future elections, including the 2027 general elections, due to their failure to meet the constitutional standards.
The News Agency of Nigeria also reports that the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators initiated the lawsuit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, against the five political parties.
The plaintiff included the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) in the suit and named INEC as the first defendant.
The forum argued that the political parties in question did not fulfill the constitutional requirements concerning electoral spread and performance. It asserted that political parties are mandated to secure at least 25 percent of votes in specified elections to maintain their legal standing.
Therefore, the forum urged the court to order the deregistration of the parties, insisting that none of the defendants had effectively countered its arguments.
