Appeal court halts enforcement of judgement deregistering ADC, Accord, three other opposition parties

Nigeria's Court of Appeal has intervened, ordering a stay of execution on a Federal High Court judgment that mandated the deregistration of five opposition political parties. The appellate court panel strongly criticized the Federal High Court judge, Peter Lifu, for issuing the deregistration order.

The appeals court panel stated that Judge Lifu exhibited "judicial rascality" by hearing the case and issuing the order, especially since a previous order from the Court of Appeal was in place and the matter was already pending before it. The judge had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action People’s Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and Accord.

These parties were deregistered for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional thresholds required to maintain their registration status, as stipulated by Section 225(a) of the Nigerian constitution. The lawsuit compelling INEC to deregister the parties was filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators. Despite lawyers for the affected parties informing Judge Lifu of the pending appeal, he proceeded with the judgment, claiming no valid stay order had been served.

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judicial rascality