The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) says it has uploaded the name of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) candidate nomination portal despite the ongoing legal dispute over the party's registration.

The development comes days after the Federal High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, set aside its earlier judgement directing INEC to register the NDC as a political party.

The court reversed its December 2025 judgement after granting an application filed by the Peace Movement Party (PMP), which argued that it was not joined as a party in the original suit despite being an interested party.

Justice Isah Dashen ruled that all relevant parties must be heard before any substantive decision can be taken in the matter. He held that the failure to include the PMP rendered the earlier proceedings invalid and ordered that the status quo before the December 2025 judgement be restored pending the determination of the substantive suit.

In response, the NDC has filed an appeal against the ruling and is also seeking a stay of execution.

Announcing the development in a Facebook post on Monday, the party's National Leader, Seriake Dickson, said the appeal and accompanying applications had been served on the INEC Chairman and other relevant officials.

"Having filed and served our appeal and the accompanying applications, the ball is now in the court of the judiciary, and we expect the judiciary to do what is right under the law," Dickson said.

He also disclosed that INEC had granted the party access to its candidate nomination portal, allowing it to begin uploading the names of its candidates.

"We have been granted access to the INEC portal to upload our qualified candidates.

"My name and that of the presidential candidate (Peter Obi) have been uploaded to the INEC portal, while that of the vice presidential candidate will be done tomorrow upon completion of the deposition. The process is also ongoing for other candidates," he stated.

Although Dickson did not disclose where the appeal was filed, reports indicate that the NDC lodged its appeal at the Court of Appeal in Lokoja, Kogi State.

As of the time of filing this report, the Court of Appeal has not announced a date for hearing the matter.