ADC, Accord, APP, AAP, and ZLP face a make-or-mar judgment in deregistration lawsuit

Five political parties accused of violating the 1999 Constitution will have their status decided today, Friday, at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The court will determine whether they are eligible to participate in the 2027 general elections.

The court will issue a make‑or‑mar judgment, expected to be handed down by Justice Peter Odo Lifu, on the legality of the parties’ registration and recognition by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The parties involved in the deregistration lawsuit are the African Democratic Congress (ADC) led by David Mark, the Action People’s Party (APP), the Accord Party (AP), the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and the Action Alliance Party (AAP).

A civil society group, the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), has taken INEC to court, requesting an order to compel the commission to deregister the five parties and prohibit them from engaging in political activities.

The group bases its objection on alleged violations of the 1999 Constitution’s provisions on party registration, recognition and existence.

Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Attorney‑General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, although a defendant in the suit, has chosen to support the parties’ deregistration. He engaged Professor Joshua Olukayode Olatoke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, to campaign for the parties’ prohibition.

INEC countered the suit, arguing that the plaintiff lacks locus standi and that the case is unmeritorious. The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/25, names INEC and the AGF as defendants, with the five parties implicated by extension.

The originating summons is based on Section 225(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Section 75(4) of the Electoral Act, 2022, and applicable provisions of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019.

Central to the relief sought is whether INEC is constitutionally required to deregister parties that fail to meet the minimum electoral performance thresholds set by law. These thresholds include securing at least 25 percent of votes cast in one state in a presidential election, winning a local government area in a governorship election, or winning at least one seat in elections ranging from councillorship to the National Assembly.

The plaintiff asks the court to decide whether INEC is empowered, or indeed obligated, to enforce these thresholds against the affected parties, which allegedly have not won any ward, legislative seat, or elective office in previous elections.

Other matters for determination include whether the parties remain eligible to be recognized as legally registered parties, and whether INEC can lawfully acknowledge or give effect to their political activities—such as congresses, primaries, campaigns, and participation in the 2027 general elections—without strict compliance with Section 225(a) of the Constitution.

The plaintiff seeks declaratory orders affirming that INEC must enforce constitutional benchmarks as a prerequisite for party registration and election participation, as well as orders compelling the commission to deregister the parties.

The plaintiff also requests mandatory and perpetual injunctions restraining INEC from recognizing, accepting, or giving effect to any political activities or correspondence from the parties unless they fully comply with constitutional and statutory requirements.

In an affidavit supporting the originating summons, Hon. Igbokwe Raphael Nnanna, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and National Coordinator of the NFFL, accused INEC of neglecting its constitutional duty by continuing to recognize parties that have failed to meet the minimum performance thresholds prescribed by the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

According to the affidavit, the affected parties have, since their registration, failed to win a single elective seat at any level of government, including presidential, governorship, National Assembly, state assembly, chairmanship or council elections.

The plaintiff further claimed that the parties did not secure the constitutionally required 25 percent of votes in at least one state in presidential elections, nor any representation across the country’s 8,809 wards, 774 local government areas, 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Hon. Nnanna asserted that despite these “total electoral failures,” INEC has continued to grant the parties full recognition, an action the group described as unconstitutional and contrary to the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, 2022.

The plaintiff warned that unless restrained by the court, INEC may unlawfully permit the affected parties to participate in the 2027 general elections, thereby “clogging the ballot papers, overstretching administrative resources and misleading voters.”

The former lawmakers argued that the continued existence of non‑performing parties undermines political sanity, electoral integrity and genuine competition, while also resulting in wastage of public funds.

Describing the action as a public interest suit, the NFFL urged the court to compel INEC to enforce constitutional compliance by deregistering parties that have failed to meet the stipulated thresholds, in order to deepen democracy and uphold the rule of law ahead of future elections.

Yakubu Abdullahi Ruba, SAN, supported by Barrister Gbenga Makanjuola, argued for the former lawmakers during proceedings, asking that the five parties be proscribed out of existence.

However, Musibau Adetunmibi, SAN, and Attah Eneojo Aruwa, SAN, argued for the Accord Party and the African Democratic Congress respectively, urging the court to dismiss the plaintiff’s suit as frivolous, baseless and unwarranted.