Appeal Court Adjourns ADC, Accord Party Deregistration Suit Till July 7

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has adjourned the hearing of an appeal challenging the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party (A), and three other political parties until July 7.

Naija News reports that the appellate court shifted the matter from June 25 to enable parties in the suit to file and exchange their briefs of argument ahead of the substantive hearing.

At Thursday’s proceedings, counsel for the Accord Party, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), informed the three-member panel led by Justice Abubakar Mohammed that the record of appeal and the judgment of the Federal High Court were only obtained on Monday and had since been transmitted to the appellate court.

Adetunbi subsequently sought a short adjournment to allow parties to file and exchange their processes. The application was not opposed by other parties.

Although the senior advocate requested three days to file the briefs, Justice Mohammed explained that some members of the panel would be away on official assignments next week, making July 7 the earliest available date for hearing.

The appeal arose from the judgment of Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party, and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

Justice Lifu held that the parties failed to satisfy the constitutional requirements necessary to retain their registration and participate in future elections.

INEC, however, opposed the deregistration, insisting that the affected political parties met the constitutional threshold and had won elective positions in previous elections.

The electoral commission also tendered certificates of return issued to candidates elected on the platforms of the affected parties.

In a related development, the Court of Appeal had, on June 16, ordered a stay of execution of the Federal High Court judgment, restraining INEC from implementing the deregistration pending the determination of the appeal.

In a unanimous ruling, the appellate court faulted Justice Lifu for delivering the judgment despite an earlier order directing him to suspend proceedings in the matter, describing the action as a violation of the hierarchy of courts.

The suit was instituted by the National Forum of Former Legislators, which argued that the affected political parties failed to meet the electoral performance requirements stipulated under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution and relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

The group maintained that the parties did not attain the constitutional electoral performance benchmark in the 2023 general election and subsequent by-elections, and should therefore be deregistered.

INEC, however, maintained that the parties remain qualified for registration, citing victories recorded by their candidates in elections conducted across the country.