The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division on Tuesday, reserved judgment in the appeals challenging the Federal High Court judgment that ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord and four other political parties.
A three-member panel of justices of the appellate court, led by Justice Abba Mohammed reserved judgment after counsel to all the parties in the appeals adopted their briefs of argument and made final oral submissions in the matter.
The court said the judgment date would be communicated to parties in the matter when ever it is ready.
While the political parties, who are the appellants, including Musibau Adetunbi, SAN urged the court to allow the appeal and set aside the the judgement of the lower court, the National Forum you f Former Legislators (NFFL), represented by Yakubu Ruba, SAN prayed the court to dismiss the appeals with substantial cost.
The appeals were filed by the ADC, Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and INEC, all seeking to overturn the judgment of the Federal High Court delivered by Justice Peter Lifu.
The appellate court had earlier, on June 16, stayed the execution of the lower court’s judgment and strongly criticised the trial judge, Justice Peter Lifu, for proceeding with the case despite an earlier order directing him to stay proceedings pending the determination of the appeals.
The Court of Appeal held that although, Justice Lifu was notified of its May 22 order, he proceeded to deliver judgment in what it described as “a form of judicial impertinence.” The panel further noted that the Supreme Court had consistently held that a judge who acts in such a manner is “unfit for the bench,” describing such conduct as judicial rascality.
Justice Lifu had, in his judgment, ordered the affected parties to stop parading themselves as registered political parties after finding merit in a suit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL).
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, the NFFL asked the court to determine whether INEC has a constitutional obligation under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022 and its regulations to deregister political parties that fail to meet prescribed electoral performance thresholds.
The plaintiffs argued that the ADC, APP, AA, Accord Party and ZLP failed to satisfy the constitutional requirements for continued registration, including securing at least 25 per cent of votes in a state during a presidential election or winning at least one elective office at the federal, state or local government level.
According to the NFFL, the parties performed poorly in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections, making their continued recognition by INEC unconstitutional and detrimental to the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral system.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, who is also a defendant in the suit, supported the plaintiffs’ position, arguing that INEC was under a constitutional obligation to deregister parties that no longer satisfy the requirements for registration.
However, dissatisfied with the judgment, INEC and the affected political parties appealed the judgement, urging the Court of Appeal to set aside the decision.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Court dismissed an application by a faction of the Action Alliance seeking to replace the party’s counsel in one of the appeals arising from the deregistration case.
In a unanimous ruling, the court held that Yakubu Mahdi was validly instructed by the recognised leadership of the Action Alliance and remains the party’s lawful counsel in Appeal No. CA/ABJ/CV/854/2026.
The application, filed by the faction led by Dr. Adekunle Rufai Omoaje, sought to set aside Mahdi’s appearance and substitute Adedola Adedoye as counsel for the party.
The rival faction led by Chief Kenneth Udeze opposed the application, arguing that existing court judgments recognised its leadership as the only authority competent to brief counsel and that the application amounted to an abuse of court process, particularly as the leadership dispute is already pending before the Supreme Court.
In dismissing the application, the appellate court held that there was no basis to interfere with Mahdi’s appearance, having found that he was duly authorised by the recognised leadership of the party.
The court also declined the request to make pronouncements regarding entries on INEC’s portal, holding that no such relief was properly before it in the interlocutory application.
It further held that previous judgments recognising the party’s leadership remain valid and binding until set aside by the Supreme Court.
Consequently, the court dismissed the application in its entirety, affirmed Yakubu Mahdi as the duly instructed counsel for the Action Alliance, and awarded N500,000 costs against the Omoaje faction in favour of the respondents.
END
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