A Federal High Court in Abuja has directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties for failing to satisfy constitutional requirements guiding the continued existence of registered parties in Nigeria.
Delivering judgment, Justice Peter Lifu held that the affected parties did not attain the minimum electoral benchmark stipulated by law, having failed to secure at least 25 per cent of votes in the last general elections.
The parties affected by the ruling are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party (AP), Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The court also restrained INEC from permitting the parties to participate in future elections, including the 2027 general elections.
The suit was instituted by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators, which challenged the continued registration of the parties over their electoral performance. The Attorney-General of the Federation and INEC were listed among the defendants in the case.
According to the plaintiffs, the parties failed to meet constitutional provisions relating to electoral spread and vote threshold required for political parties to retain their registration.
Justice Lifu dismissed the preliminary objections raised by the defendants before granting the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs.
However, the affected parties may challenge the judgment at the appellate court.
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