By Abigail David
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the deregistration of five political parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Accord, for allegedly failing to meet constitutional requirements for continued registration.
In a judgment delivered on Monday, Justice Peter Lifu directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the affected parties after finding that they failed to secure the required electoral threshold in the last general elections.
The parties affected by the ruling are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord (A), Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The court also restrained INEC from allowing the parties to participate in future elections, including the 2027 general elections, on the grounds that they did not satisfy the constitutional criteria for political party recognition.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, was filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators, with INEC and the Attorney-General of the Federation joined as defendants.
The plaintiff argued that the affected parties failed to meet constitutional requirements on electoral performance and spread, maintaining that they did not secure the minimum level of votes required to retain their status. The court held that the parties failed to effectively challenge the claims.
