By Peter Dansu The political landscape in Nigeria witnessed a major shake-up on Monday as the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Indep...
By Peter Dansu
The political landscape in Nigeria witnessed a major shake-up on Monday as the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties over their failure to meet constitutional electoral performance requirements.
The affected parties are the Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The landmark judgment was delivered by Justice Peter Lifu following a suit instituted by the National Forum of Former Legislators, which challenged the continued registration of political parties that have allegedly failed to satisfy the minimum constitutional benchmarks for political relevance and electoral viability.
In the suit, the forum asked the court to determine whether INEC has a constitutional obligation to deregister political parties that fail to meet the electoral performance thresholds stipulated under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution as amended, as well as provisions contained in the Electoral Act 2022 and relevant electoral regulations.
The plaintiffs argued that the five political parties had consistently failed to achieve the level of electoral success required by law to justify their continued existence as registered political parties.
According to the former lawmakers, political parties are expected to secure at least 25 percent of votes in a state during a presidential election or win at least one elective position at the federal, state, or local government level to maintain their registration status.
They told the court that the ADC, APP, AA, AP, and ZLP failed to attain these constitutional thresholds during the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections conducted across the country.
The forum further maintained that the parties recorded poor performances and were unable to secure elective offices at critical levels of government, thereby making them liable for deregistration under the law.
In his ruling, Justice Lifu agreed with the submissions of the plaintiffs and directed INEC to commence the process of deregistering the affected political parties in line with constitutional provisions.
The judgment is expected to generate widespread reactions across the nation's political space, particularly as preparations gradually begin ahead of the 2027 general elections. Political analysts believe the ruling could significantly reshape the country's multiparty system and reduce the number of parties participating in future elections.
As of the time of filing this report, neither INEC nor the affected political parties had officially reacted to the court's decision.
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