The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, has ordered a stay of execution of the judgment of a Federal High Court which directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party, Zenith Labour Party, and Action Peoples Party (APP) for non-compliance with Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution by not producing any elected official in the last election.
Justice Peter Lifu, in the judgment delivered on Monday, ordered INEC to deregister the affected parties, having failed to secure 25 per cent of the votes in the last general elections in compliance with the provisions of the law.
The court said the parties failed to meet the constitutional threshold under Section 225 of the 1999 Constitution, which gives INEC the power to deregister parties that fail to meet the constitutional requirements.
In the judgment, Justice Lifu barred INEC from further according recognition to the parties, accepting nominations of candidates from the affected parties, or giving effect to their activities for the purpose of participating in the 2027 general elections.
At the proceedings on Tuesday, in an interlocutory appeal by Accord Party over the joinder of parties in the suit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL) before Justice Peter Lifu seeking the deregistration of five political parties, all counsel in the appeal urged the court to either stay the execution of the judgment of the trial court or set it aside.
The NFFL disagreed with the submission of Accord Party and the four other political parties to suspend any move by INEC to implement the order deregistering them.
At the proceedings, Accord Party’s lawyer, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), drew the attention of the justices to the high court’s violation of the Constitution by proceeding with the judgment despite a pending order of May 22 by the Court of Appeal staying further proceedings in the matter after it appealed the May 20 order of the court refusing to stay proceedings.
He informed the appellate court that the order was made by a three-member panel comprising Justices Mohammed Danjuma, Adebukola Banjoko and Oyejoju Oyewumi, directing the lower court judge to stay proceedings until all issues relating to the appeal filed by Accord Party were resolved.
He said all relevant processes were filed, including the affidavit of facts on May 26, only for them to receive a notice on Monday that his lordship was about to deliver judgment.
“Myself and counsel to the 4th respondent and 6th (APP) drew the attention his lordship’s attention to your lordships’ order. His lordship ignored your lordships’ order and proceeded to deliver judgement”.
In a short ruling, the three-member panel held that the appellate court has a duty to invoke its powers to ensure that its orders are obeyed.
“Enforcement of the judgement of the trial court delivered on June 15 2026 is hereby stayed pending the hearing and determination of appeal filed by the appellant”, the Court of Appeal held.
The Court then adjourned till June 25 at 2pm for the hearing of all pending appeals.
It would be recalled that Justice Lifu, on Monday, ordered the deregisteration of the five political parties for failing to meet the constitutional requirements to warrant their continued existence and participation in future elections.
It barred INEC from further according recognition to the parties, accepting nominations of candidates from the affected parties, or giving effect to their activities for the purpose of participating in the 2027 general elections.
Moreover, Justice Lifu ordered the defendants to stop parading themselves as registered political parties in the country and held that there was merit in a suit filed against them by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL).
The group, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, prayed the court to determine whether INEC has a constitutional obligation to remove political parties that fail to meet the electoral performance thresholds set out in Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as reinforced by the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC’s regulations.
It was the position of the plaintiff that the five political parties listed as defendants had persistently failed to meet the constitutional benchmarks required to retain their registration.
The former legislators stressed that the requirements include winning at least 25 per cent of votes in a state during a presidential election or securing at least one elective seat at the national, state, or local government level.
They told the court that the ADC and the four other parties performed poorly in both the 2023 general elections and by-elections conducted by INEC, thereby failing to win seats across key tiers of government.
The litigants insisted that the continued existence of the ADC and the other defendants as recognised political parties is unlawful and undermines the integrity of the country’s electoral system.
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