Di Court of Appeal for Abuja don reserve judgment for di appeal wey African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four oda political parties file against di Federal High Court order wey say make Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deregister dem.
Justice Abba Mohammed wey lead di three-member panel of justices reserve judgment after di lawyers for all di parties don adopt dia briefs of argument and make final oral submissions. Di court say dem go tell di parties di date wey dem go give judgment.
Di political parties wey be di appellants dey beg di court to allow di appeal and throway di judgment of di lower court. But di NFFL, wey Yakubu Ruba, SAN represent, dey beg di court to dismiss di appeals with heavy cost.
Di appeals wey ADC, Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and INEC file dey seek to overturn di judgment of Justice Peter Lifu for Federal High Court.
Earlier on June 16, di appellate court don stay di execution of di lower court judgment and seriously criticise Justice Lifu for continuing di case even after dem order am to stop until di appeals finish. Di Court of Appeal say even though dem notify Justice Lifu of dia order on May 22, e still deliver judgment, wey dem call “a form of judicial impertinence.” Di panel note say Supreme Court don always hold say any judge wey act like dat no fit for di bench, and dem describe di conduct as “judicial rascality.”
Justice Lifu for im judgment order di affected parties to stop parading as registered political parties after e find merit for di case wey National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL) bring. For di suit wey dem mark as FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, di NFFL ask di court to decide weda INEC get constitutional duty under Section 225A of di 1999 Constitution, di Electoral Act 2022 and its regulations to deregister political parties wey no meet di required electoral performance thresholds.
Di plaintiffs argue say ADC, APP, AA, Accord Party and ZLP fail to satisfy di constitutional requirements for continued registration, like getting at least 25% of votes for a state during presidential election or winning at least one elective office for federal, state or local government level. According to NFFL, di parties perform poor for di 2023 general elections and di by-elections wey follow, so dia continued recognition by INEC no be constitutional and e dey hurt Nigeria electoral system.
Di Attorney-General of di Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, wey be defendant for di suit, support di plaintiffs position, saying say INEC get constitutional duty to deregister parties wey no longer meet di requirements for registration.
But wey dem no satisfied with di judgment, INEC and di affected political parties appeal, dey beg di Court of Appeal to set aside di decision.
Earlier on Tuesday, di court dismiss application wey one faction of Action Alliance file to replace di party counsel for one of di appeals from di deregistration case. For a unanimous ruling, di court hold say Yakubu Mahdi get valid instruction from di recognised leadership of Action Alliance and e remain di party lawful counsel for Appeal No. CA/ABJ/CV/854/2026.
Di application wey di faction wey Dr. Adekunle Rufai Omoaje lead file dey seek to set aside Mahdi appearance and substitute Adedola Adedoye as counsel for di party. Di rival faction wey Chief Kenneth Udeze lead oppose di application, arguing say existing court judgments recognise dia leadership as di only authority wey fit brief counsel and say di application be abuse of court process, especially as di leadership dispute dey already for Supreme Court.
For dismissing di application, di appellate court hold say no basis to interfere with Mahdi appearance, because dem find say e get due authorisation from di recognised leadership of di party. Di court also refuse to make pronouncements about entries for INEC portal, saying say no such relief dey properly before dem for di interlocutory application. E further hold say previous judgments wey recognise di party leadership remain valid and binding until Supreme Court set dem aside.
Di court dismiss di application completely, affirm Yakubu Mahdi as di duly instructed counsel for Action Alliance, and award N500,000 cost against Omoaje faction in favour of di respondents.
