The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC), over their alleged failure to meet constitutional requirements for continued registration.
Justice Peter Lifu delivered the judgment on Monday in a suit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators, which sought to compel INEC to enforce constitutional provisions governing the registration and continued existence of political parties.
The affected political parties are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The court directed INEC to remove the parties from its register and further ordered that they should not participate in future elections pending compliance with constitutional requirements.
The plaintiffs argued that the parties failed to satisfy the performance thresholds stipulated under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which empowers the electoral body to deregister parties that fail to secure the minimum electoral benchmarks required by law.
They contended that the affected parties neither won elective offices nor met the prescribed voting thresholds in previous elections.
In his ruling, Justice Lifu upheld the arguments of the plaintiffs and held that INEC has a constitutional obligation to deregister political parties that fail to meet the prescribed standards.
The court consequently ordered the electoral umpire to strike the five parties from its register.
The judgment is expected to have significant political implications ahead of preparations for the 2027 general elections, particularly for the ADC, which recently emerged as a platform for a coalition of opposition politicians.
Reacting to the verdict, ADC spokesperson Bolaji Abdullahi rejected the decision, describing it as “a direct invitation to anarchy,” and disclosed that the party would challenge the ruling through all available legal and constitutional channels.
