The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday expressed shock over the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordering the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties, saying it only became aware of the decision through media reports.
Before a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, INEC urged the court to stay the execution of the judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu and aligned itself with appeals filed by the affected political parties.
Counsel to the electoral body, Haliru Mohammed, told the appellate court that INEC was surprised that the lower court proceeded with the judgment despite an earlier order of the Court of Appeal restraining its delivery.
According to him, the commission was neither notified of the judgment date nor served with any formal communication indicating that the matter would be determined.
“My Lords, we are aware of an order that this court made on May 22, which stopped the delivery of the judgment of the lower court, which was initially reserved for June 5.
“We were not aware of any notice from the court regarding the delivery of the judgment. We only saw it as breaking news in the media,” Mohammed said.
He added that INEC had no objection to the application seeking a stay of execution of the judgment pending the determination of the appeals.
Also addressing the court, counsel to the ADC, Shuaibu Aruwa (SAN), disclosed that the party received notification of the judgment through a WhatsApp message from the trial judge.
Aruwa described Justice Lifu’s action as a challenge to the authority of the Court of Appeal, alleging that the judge proceeded with the judgment despite being aware of the appellate court’s restraining order.
“What the trial judge did was dare this Court of Appeal by insisting that no one could arrest his judgment, even after his attention was drawn to the stay order from this court,” he argued.
The senior advocate urged the appellate court to take what he described as extraordinary measures to protect the integrity of the judiciary and suspend the judgment immediately.
Other parties in the matter warned that allowing the judgment to stand could create uncertainty ahead of by-elections scheduled by INEC for June 20 in six states. They urged the appellate court to exercise its supervisory powers to prevent what they termed a disregard for its orders.
The Court of Appeal continued hearing arguments from the parties and is expected to rule on the applications.
Justice Lifu had ordered INEC to deregister the ADC, Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), holding that they failed to meet constitutional requirements for continued registration.
The court further restrained INEC from recognising the parties, accepting candidates nominated by them or allowing them to participate in the 2027 general elections.
The judgment followed a suit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which argued that the parties failed to satisfy the electoral performance thresholds stipulated under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The plaintiff maintained that the affected parties neither secured the minimum electoral benchmarks nor won elective positions at the national, state or local government levels, rendering their continued existence as registered political parties unconstitutional.
