The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved judgment in appeals challenging the Federal High Court ruling that ordered the deregistration of five opposition political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The affected parties are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party, Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
A three-member panel of justices led by Justice Abba Mohammed announced on Tuesday that the court would communicate a date for the judgment to all parties involved.
During proceedings, counsel for Accord Party, Musial Adetunbi, urged the appellate court to set aside the Federal High Court judgment, describing it as legally flawed. He argued that Justice Peter Lifu based his findings on facts that were not supported by law and asked the court to nullify the ruling in the interest of justice.
The appeal follows an earlier decision by the Court of Appeal on June 16 granting a stay of execution of the Federal High Court judgment. At the time, the appellate court criticised Justice Lifu for proceeding with the case despite an order issued on May 22 directing him to stay proceedings pending the determination of an interlocutory appeal.
The court described the judge's actions as judicial impropriety and cited Supreme Court authorities that characterise such conduct as inconsistent with judicial standards.
Justice Lifu had ruled that the five political parties failed to satisfy constitutional requirements necessary to retain their registration. He ordered INEC to deregister them and barred the commission from recognising the parties, accepting their candidates' nominations or permitting them to participate in the 2027 general elections.
The Federal High Court also restrained the parties from presenting themselves as registered political organisations.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, was filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which argued that INEC has a constitutional obligation under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022 and its regulations to deregister political parties that fail to meet prescribed electoral performance thresholds.
According to the NFFL, the five parties did not meet the required benchmarks in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections, making their continued registration unlawful.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, supported the NFFL's position, arguing that INEC's continued recognition of the parties would amount to a violation of constitutional provisions and weaken the integrity of Nigeria's electoral system.
He further maintained that judicial intervention was necessary to compel INEC to fulfil its constitutional responsibilities.
However, all the defendants in the case, including INEC and the affected political parties, have appealed the Federal High Court's decision and are seeking its reversal.
The Court of Appeal's forthcoming judgment is expected to determine whether the parties will retain their legal status ahead of preparations for the 2027 elections.
