The ruling deregistering ADC and four other political parties is overturned by the appeal court.

 

Important Lessons

The Federal High Court's ruling directing INEC to deregister ADC, Accord Party, and three other parties was overturned by the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Tuesday.

The National Forum of Former Legislators was fined ₦1 million by Justice Abba Bello's three-person panel, which also declared the June 15 ruling to be invalid.

After the June 16 stay order prevented execution, Justice Abba Mohammed ruled that ADC, APP, AA, Accord Party, and ZLP were still properly registered, permitting their appeals.

On Tuesday, the Federal High Court's ruling to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party, and three other political parties was overturned by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

The National Forum of Former Legislators, who filed the lawsuit to have the parties deregistered, was found to lack legal standing by the appellate court.

A three-member tribunal headed by Justice Abba Bello unanimously ruled that the Federal High Court's June 15 ruling, rendered by Justice Peter Odo Lifu, was invalid and should be set aside.

According to KohlorsMedia, the National Forum of Former Legislators was fined ₦1 million by the appellate court for bringing the lawsuit.

The court determined that by considering an incompetent claim brought by a non-juristic organization, the trial court improperly took jurisdiction.

The appellate court claimed that the Federal High Court's subsequent ruling ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission to derecognize was not supported by any legitimate lawsuit.

The court further ruled that the trial judge did not adequately consider the facts that was presented to him, pointing out that evidence demonstrating the impacted parties had previously won elective seats was disregarded.

Additionally, it decided that the Federal High Court had violated a previous ruling instructing it to halt the case's progress.

The trial court should have dismissed the substantive claim for lack of jurisdiction and merit, the appellate court ruled.

According to Justice Abba Mohammed's lead ruling, all of the impacted political parties were still properly registered.

As a result, the court granted the political parties' individual challenges and reinstated their legal standing.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party, and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) are the parties impacted by the ruling.

On June 16, the Court of Appeal criticized the trial judge for allegedly ignoring the judicial hierarchy and granted a stay of the Federal High Court judgment's execution.