The Court of Appeal in Abuja has ordered INEC to stop removing the African Democratic Congress and four other parties from its list, halting a Federal High Court ruling for now.
A three-judge panel led by Justice A. B. Mohammed made the decision on Monday. The judges said Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court was wrong to give judgment after the appeal court told him on May 22 to wait and pause the case.
The panel said the lower court’s action broke court rules and disrespected the system. It called it “the highest form of judicial impertinence” and reminded that the Supreme Court once said any judge who ignores such orders is “unfit for the bench” because it is “judicial rascality.”
“Courts must protect their good name. This court has power over the lower court. To go ahead with judgment after this court’s clear order is a serious breach of the law and the 1999 Constitution,” the court said. It then agreed to stop the judgment from being carried out until the appeal is heard.
Earlier, Justice Lifu had ordered INEC to deregister ADC, Action Peoples Party, Action Alliance, Accord Party, and Zenith Labour Party. He ruled that the parties did not meet the rules to stay registered and told INEC to stop recognizing them, stop collecting their candidates’ names, and stop them from joining the 2027 elections.
He also said the parties must stop calling themselves registered parties. The case started after the National Forum of Former Legislators sued, case number FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026. The group wanted the court to decide if INEC must remove parties that fail the performance test in Section 225A of the Constitution, plus the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC rules.
The former lawmakers said ADC, APP, AA, Accord, and ZLP kept failing those tests. To remain registered, a party must get at least 25% of votes in a state during a presidential election or win one seat at national, state, or local level. The group said the five parties did badly in the 2023 election and later by-elections, winning no seats at any level.
They told the court that keeping the parties on INEC’s list was against the law and hurt Nigeria’s election system. With this new order, the Court of Appeal has put that plan on hold until it hears the full appeal.