Court of Appeal fixes June 25 for hearing applications in parties deregistration case

The Court of Appeal has fixed June 25, 2026, for the hearing and determination of all pending applications arising from the legal battle over the deregistration of five political parties.

The appellate court also ordered that the judgment of the Federal High Court directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the affected parties should not be enforced pending the final determination of the appeals.

The ruling followed fresh arguments by parties in the matter after the June 15 judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which ordered the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

The suit was instituted by the Board of Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which argued that the parties no longer met the constitutional and statutory requirements for continued registration under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022.

During Tuesday’s proceedings, counsel to the NFFL argued that earlier applications before the court had been overtaken by events following the delivery of the Federal High Court judgment and sought the withdrawal of an earlier motion, while opposing fresh oral applications by the appellants.

INEC, represented as the second respondent, told the court that it had no prior notice of the delivery of the Federal High Court judgment and only became aware of it through media reports. The electoral body did not oppose the withdrawal of the earlier application.

Speaking with journalists after the proceedings, counsel to the Board of Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yakubu Ruba, said the Court of Appeal had merely preserved the status quo pending the hearing of all pending appeals.

“Due to the INEC timetable and considering the fact that the election is approaching, the court has fixed the 25th of this month for all pending applications to be determined finally. That’s what happened,” Ruba said.

The dispute stems from the June 15 judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, which ordered INEC to deregister the five political parties for allegedly failing to satisfy constitutional and electoral performance thresholds.

With June 25 now fixed for the hearing of all pending applications, the Court of Appeal is expected to determine key issues arising from the matter.