The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has moved to halt the enforcement of a Federal High Court judgment ordering the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party, and three other political parties.
The electoral body approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja, backing applications filed by the affected parties to suspend the judgment pending the determination of their appeals.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court had on Monday ordered the deregistration of the ADC, Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), ruling that they failed to meet constitutional requirements for retaining their registration.
However, during proceedings on Tuesday, INEC informed the appellate court that it was surprised by the judgment, insisting that an earlier Court of Appeal order had already halted its delivery.
Counsel to INEC, Haliru Mohammed, told the three-member panel that the commission was neither notified of the judgment date nor served with any notice indicating that the decision would be delivered.
“We only saw it as breaking news in the media. We therefore do not oppose the application of the appellant to stay the execution of the judgment,” Mohammed said.
Counsel to the ADC, Shuaibu Aruwa, accused the trial judge of disregarding the Court of Appeal’s earlier order, alleging that the party was informed of the judgment through WhatsApp.
“What the trial judge did was dare this court of appeal by insisting that no one could arrest his judgment, even after his attention was drawn to the stay order from this court,” Aruwa argued.
The ADC lawyer urged the appellate court to urgently suspend the judgment, warning that allowing it to stand could undermine the authority of the Court of Appeal and create uncertainty ahead of upcoming by-elections.
Other parties involved in the matter also expressed concern that enforcing the judgment could complicate preparations for the June 20 by-elections scheduled to hold in six states.
The Court of Appeal is expected to determine whether the judgment should be suspended while the appeals challenging the deregistration order are heard.
