JUST-IN: Appeal Court Rules On Judgement For INEC To Deregister ADC, Others

The Court of Appeal has ordered a temporary suspension of the enforcement of a Federal High Court judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.

The appellate court’s decision came after INEC filed an application seeking a stay of execution of the lower court’s ruling pending the determination of its appeal.

The electoral commission had approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja, arguing that the judgment should not be implemented until all legal processes challenging the decision had been exhausted.

The development follows a ruling delivered by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, who ordered the deregistration of five political parties for allegedly failing to satisfy the constitutional and statutory requirements necessary to retain their registration as political parties in Nigeria.

The parties affected by the judgment are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

In his ruling, Justice Lifu held that the parties had failed to meet the conditions prescribed by law for continued recognition by the electoral body and consequently directed