Appeal Court Suspends Lifu’s Order to Deregister Parties

The Court of Appeal has granted a temporary reprieve to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, and candidates from five political parties by suspending a Federal High Court order for their deregistration. The appellate court's three-member panel unanimously ruled that the trial court's judgment was delivered without jurisdiction.

The initial order from Justice Peter Lifu on Monday directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord, Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP). This was based on their failure to win any electoral seats in the 2023 general election.

The affected parties and INEC appealed the decision, arguing that Justice Lifu disregarded a prior order from the Court of Appeal. This earlier order had instructed him to stay further proceedings pending the determination of an interlocutory appeal. The electoral commission stated it only became aware of the judgment through media reports and did not oppose the stay of execution.

Justices on the appellate panel criticized Justice Lifu for his apparent disregard for the court's hierarchy and orders. The suspension of the deregistration order offers a significant relief to the political parties and their candidates, preventing immediate disenfranchisement ahead of upcoming elections.

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My Lords, we are aware of an order that this court made on May 22, which stopped the delivery of the judgment of the lower court, which was initially reserved for delivery on June 5. We were not aware of any notice from the court regarding the delivery of the judgement. We only saw it as breaking news in the media. We, therefore, do not oppose the application of the appellant to stay the execution of the judgement.