The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has voided, set aside, and completely thrown out the Federal High Court judgment that previously ordered the deregistration and proscription of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Accord Party, and three other political organizations. In a unambiguous ruling delivered on Tuesday by an appellate panel led by Justice Abba Bello, the court held that the plaintiff in the original suit—the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators—lacked the legal standing (*locus standi*) to institute the deregistration proceedings in the first place.
The unanimous appellate decision completely neutralizes the prior verdict delivered by Justice Peter Odo Lifu of the Federal High Court. In that initial ruling, Justice Lifu had directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately deregister and proscribe the affected political platforms—including the ADC, Accord Party, Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP)—for allegedly failing to meet constitutional performance benchmarks set out under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). However, the appellate court determined that the former lawmakers had no direct legal interest or constitutional mandate to compel the electoral body to deregister active political parties.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Abba Bello firmly criticized the initiation of the lawsuit, declaring the entire legal challenge null and void from its inception. Beyond setting aside the Federal High Court’s orders, the Court of Appeal panel awarded a financial penalty of 1 million Naira against the National Forum of Former Legislators as a cost for filing the meritless action.
The appellate ruling brings a decisive end to weeks of high-stakes political uncertainty and heated debate across the nation’s political landscape. Prior to the reversal, the trial court’s order had threatened to disrupt opposition alignment strategies and potentially undermine the participation of key political figures heading into future general elections. With the Federal High Court's verdict formally set aside, all five political parties retain their full legal status, political rights, and official recognition on INEC's register of political parties.
