The Federal High Court in Abuja has directed 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.
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The ruling was delivered by Justice Peter Lifu following a suit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators. The court also ordered the deregistration of the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
In the suit, the former lawmakers asked the court to determine whether INEC has a constitutional obligation to deregister political parties that fail to satisfy the electoral performance thresholds outlined in Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as well as provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC regulations.
The plaintiffs argued that the five parties had consistently failed to meet the constitutional benchmarks required to retain their registration. According to them, political parties are expected to secure at least 25 percent of votes in a state during a presidential election or win at least one elective seat at the federal, state, or local government level.
They further contended that the affected parties recorded poor performances in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections conducted by INEC, failing to secure electoral victories across key levels of government.
Justice Lifu, in his judgment, held that INEC should proceed with the deregistration of the parties in line with the constitutional and legal provisions governing political party registration and retention in Nigeria.
