By Eteteonline Team
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been ordered by a Federal High Court in Abuja to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties for allegedly not meeting constitutional standards for continuing registration.
In a ruling on Monday, the judge, Peter Lifu, issued the directive. He said that the impacted parties violated Section 225 of the Nigerian Constitution, which grants INEC the authority to deregister political parties that did not secure any electoral seats in the preceding round of federal, state, and local government elections.
The National Forum of Former Legislators filed the lawsuit against INEC, the Federation’s Attorney General, and the impacted opposition parties.
The plaintiff had requested that the court rule on whether INEC must deregister political parties that don’t meet the performance requirements outlined in Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
In addition, the plaintiffs requested an injunction requiring INEC to take the parties off its registry and prohibit them from running in subsequent elections.
Lateef Fagbemi, the Federation’s Attorney General, entered the lawsuit as a defendant and threw his office behind the lawsuit and the requested prayers.
Accord, Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) are parties to the court’s deregistration order. Atiku Abubakar, the ADC’s presidential candidate, and Ademola Adeleke, the governor of Osun State, who is running for reelection on the Accord platform, are among those impacted by the decision.
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