Court orders INEC to deregister ADC, 4 other parties over constitutional breach

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday approved the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties over their failure to meet the constitutional requirement of securing 25 per cent of votes in the last general elections.

Justice Peter Lifu delivered the judgment, ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the affected parties, namely: the ADC, Accord (A), Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, is the presidential flagbearer of the ADC.

The Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators filed the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, against the five political parties.

What the Court said

In line with the plaintiff’s application, Justice Lifu observed that the affected political parties failed to secure the required 25 per cent of votes in the last general elections.

The judge also dismissed the multiple preliminary objections filed by the defendants.

He ordered INEC not to allow the parties to participate in subsequent elections, including the 2027 general elections, having failed to meet the constitutional threshold.

Justice Lifu maintained that their failure to secure the required 25 per cent of votes was in contravention of the provisions of the law.

Backstory

The plaintiff joined the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) in the suit and also named INEC as the first defendant.

• The forum alleged that the affected political parties failed to meet constitutional requirements relating to electoral spread and performance.
• It argued that political parties were required to secure at least 25 per cent of votes in prescribed elections to remain compliant with the law but failed to do so.

The group urged the court to order the deregistration of the parties, maintaining that none of the defendants had effectively countered its arguments.

What you should know

The development comes days after the Supreme Court, in a separate political leadership case, returned the matter involving the ADC to the Federal High Court for determination.

• Nairametrics previously reported that the Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed an appeal filed by former Senate President David Mark over the ongoing African Democratic Congress (ADC) leadership dispute.
• In a unanimous judgment, a three-member panel of the court comprising Justices Uchechukwu Onyemenam, Mohammed Mustapha, and Okon Efreti Abang struck out the appeal for being incompetent after upholding a preliminary objection challenging the court’s jurisdiction.

The respondents in that case included Nafiu Bala Gombe, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rauf Aregbesola, Ralph Nwosu, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The ruling on the deregistration of the affected political parties comes at a time when political parties are recalibrating their internal structures ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Earlier this year, the Independent National Electoral Commission informed the National Assembly that it would require N873.78 billion to conduct the elections, in addition to N171 billion for its operational expenses in 2026—a sharp increase from the N313.4 billion released for the 2023 polls.