BREAKING: Court Orders INEC to Deregister ADC, Four Other Political Parties

By Emmanuel Kwada

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC), over their failure to meet constitutional electoral performance requirements.

The affected parties are the African Democratic Congress, Action Peoples Party, Action Alliance, Accord Party, and Zenith Labour Party.

The order was issued by Justice Peter Lifu while delivering judgment in a suit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators.

The plaintiffs had asked the court to determine whether INEC has a constitutional obligation to deregister political parties that fail to satisfy the electoral performance benchmarks stipulated under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as well as provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and relevant INEC regulations.

According to the former lawmakers, the five political parties had consistently failed to meet the constitutional conditions required to maintain their registration as political parties in Nigeria.

They argued that the constitution requires political parties to demonstrate electoral relevance by securing at least 25 percent of votes in a state during a presidential election or winning at least one elective seat at the national, state, or local government level.

The National Forum of Former Legislators contended that the affected parties performed poorly in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections conducted by INEC, failing to secure representation across critical tiers of government.

In his ruling, Justice Lifu agreed with the arguments presented by the plaintiffs and directed INEC to take steps toward deregistering the five political parties in line with constitutional provisions.

The judgment is expected to have significant implications for Nigeria’s political landscape, particularly ahead of preparations for future elections.

As of the time of filing this report, INEC had not issued an official response to the court’s directive, while reactions from the affected political parties were still being awaited.