RismadarVoice Reporters, June 25, 2026
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has adjourned to July 7 the hearing of an appeal challenging the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party and three other political parties.
The court shifted the case from its original June 25 date to allow the parties involved sufficient time to file and exchange their briefs of argument before the substantive hearing begins.
During Thursday’s proceedings, counsel for the Accord Party, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), told the three-member panel led by Justice Abubakar Mohammed that the record of appeal and the Federal High Court judgment were only obtained on Monday and had since been transmitted to the appellate court. He asked for a short adjournment to enable the parties to file and exchange their court processes.
No objections were raised by other parties to the suit, and the panel granted the request, fixing the matter for 2pm on July 7.
Although Adetunbi had requested only three days to complete the filing process, Justice Mohammed noted that some members of the panel would be away from Abuja the following week on official engagements, making July 7 the earliest suitable date for the case to resume.
The appeal arises from a judgment by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC, Action Peoples Party, Action Alliance, Accord Party and Zenith Labour Party. Justice Lifu ruled that the parties had failed to meet the constitutional requirements needed to retain their registration and contest future elections.
INEC has opposed the deregistration order, arguing that the affected parties met the required constitutional threshold and pointing to victories recorded by their candidates in previous elections. The commission presented certificates of return issued to successful candidates who ran under the platforms of the parties in question.
In a related development, the Court of Appeal had on June 16 ordered a stay of execution of the Federal High Court’s judgment, blocking INEC from carrying out the deregistration while the appeal is being determined. In a unanimous ruling, the appellate court faulted Justice Lifu for proceeding to judgment despite an earlier directive instructing him to halt proceedings in the case. The court held that this amounted to a breach of the hierarchy of courts and went on to grant the stay of execution.
The original suit was filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators, which argued that the affected parties did not meet the electoral performance benchmarks set out in Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution and related provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022. According to the group, the parties failed to achieve the required level of electoral success in the 2023 general election and subsequent by-elections, making them liable for deregistration.
INEC has maintained, however, that the parties remain validly registered, citing their candidates’ victories in elections held across the country as evidence that they satisfied the constitutional requirements.
