A Federal High Court ruling that mandated the deregistration of five opposition political parties has been overruled by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, restoring their legal standing ahead of the 2027 general elections and a number of off-cycle polls that are planned for this year.
On Tuesday, the appellate court concluded that the deregistration decision was unlawful because the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party, Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) are the parties impacted.
The Court of Appeal’s three-member panel, presided over by Justice Abba Mohammed, unanimously overturned the lower court’s ruling.
The Federal High Court did not have the legal right to consider the lawsuit in the first place, the court ruled.
It also discovered that the trial court disregarded a legitimate stay of proceedings before rendering a decision.
The appeal court rejected the trial court’s contention that hearings had already ended before the stay order was issued, ruling that a stay of proceedings continues to the delivering of verdict.
The National Forum of Former Legislators, which started the complaint, was found to lack locus standi, or legal standing, by the justices.
They concluded that rather than pursuing the lawsuit, the Federal High Court should have rejected it.
Quoting its findings, the Court of Appeal stated: “The evidence before the court clearly shows compliance with Section 225(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended); that the judgement of the trial judge was perverse.”
The Court of Appeal granted the impacted parties interim remedy by delaying the deregistration order’s execution on June 16, more than two months prior to Tuesday’s ruling.
The same three-person panel at the time chastised Federal High Court Judge Peter Lifu for pursuing the case in defiance of an appellate court-issued halt of proceedings.
The Court of Appeal stayed the enforcement of the deregistration order while the appeal was being decided, calling the judge’s actions “judicial rascality.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the five political parties were sued by the National Forum of Former Legislators, which sparked the court battle.
The organization claimed that the parties had not met the constitutional standards for ongoing registration under Section 225(a) of the 1999 Constitution and sought the court to order INEC to remove the parties from its register.
The claimants claim that the parties’ performance in the general election of 2023 fell short of the constitutional level needed to keep their registration.
INEC opposed the lawsuit, but Attorney-General of the Federation Lateef Fagbemi supported it.