The Court of Appeal in Abuja has adjourned hearing in an appeal challenging the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party and three other political parties to July 7.
The appellate court shifted the hearing from June 25 to allow parties in the case file and exchange their briefs of argument ahead of the substantive hearing.
At Thursday’s proceedings, counsel to the Accord Party, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), informed the three-member panel that the record of appeal and the judgment of the Federal High Court were only obtained and transmitted to the Court of Appeal on Monday.
The senior advocate subsequently sought a short adjournment to enable all parties file and exchange their processes.
The request was not opposed by the other parties, prompting the panel, led by Justice Abubakar Mohammed, to grant the adjournment and fix July 7 for hearing.
Although Adetunbi requested three days to file the necessary documents, Justice Mohammed explained that some members of the panel would be away on official assignment next week, making July 7 the earliest available date.
The appeal stems from a judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties, including the ADC, on the grounds that they failed to meet constitutional requirements.
The affected parties are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Justice Lifu held that the parties failed to satisfy the constitutional benchmarks required to retain their registration and directed INEC to stop recognising them as political parties eligible to participate in future elections.
The judgment was delivered despite INEC’s opposition, with the electoral commission presenting evidence that the affected parties had won elective seats and met constitutional requirements for continued registration.
However, on June 16, the Court of Appeal ordered a stay of execution of the judgment, preventing INEC from implementing the deregistration order.
In a unanimous decision, the appellate court criticised the Federal High Court for delivering judgment despite an earlier directive ordering a suspension of proceedings in the matter.
Justice Mohammed, who led the panel, described the action as a violation of the hierarchy of courts and granted the application seeking to halt enforcement of the judgment pending determination of the appeal.
The court subsequently fixed June 25 for hearing of the substantive appeal before shifting the matter to July 7.
The suit was instituted by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which argued that the affected parties failed to meet the electoral performance thresholds stipulated under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution.
The group contended that the parties did not secure the required electoral victories in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections to justify their continued existence.
INEC, however, maintained that the parties had won seats in state assemblies and the National Assembly, submitting certificates of return issued to their successful candidates as evidence before the court.