Court Upholds Deregistration Of Two Political Parties

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday upheld the deregistration of two political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The two political parties deregistered are the Democratic People’s Party and the Reform and Advancement Party.

Recall that the electoral body on February 6, 2020, deregistered 74 political parties after the 2019 general election.

The political parties were deregistered by INEC due to their inability to meet the minimum constitutional requirements of election victories in the 2019 poll as stipulated in Section 225(a) of the Nigerian Constitution.

Justices Anwuli Chikere and Taiwo both of the Federal High Court, Abuja, earlier upheld the deregistration of about 35 of the affected parties which filed suits to challenge the cancellation of their registration by INEC.

Justice Nkeonye Maha in its ruling dismissed the suits filed by DPP and RAP for lacking in merit.

She noted that the electoral body acted within its powers to deregister the political parties on the grounds of the party’s non-compliance with the provision of section 225(a) of the Nigerian Constitution.

She ruled, “Section 225(a) of the 4th Alteration No. 17 Act of the Constitution mandates the defendant to deregister any political party that is not constitutionally compliant.”

“Therefore, the power of the defendant to deregister any political party that is not constitutionally compliant with the provision is not in doubt.”

The judge added that the parties failed to present any evidence to show that INEC acted wrongly.

The lawyers who represented the parties in the cases vowed to appeal the judgment.