22 Political Parties Win Appeal Court Battle Against De-registration By INEC

The decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to de-register some political parties in Nigeria has been overruled by the Court of Appeal.

The Appellate Court sitting in Abuja on Monday decided that the de-registration of 22 out of the 74 deregistered political parties by INEC did not follow due process.

It also by its ruling, upturned an earlier judgment by a Federal High Court that upheld INEC’s actions.

The court thereafter, ordered that the 22 deregistered parties should be relisted as registered political parties in Nigeria.

Naija News recalls INEC had in February 2020, deregistered some political parties for not meeting certain requirements as stipulated by the constitution.

However, delivering judgment on Monday in the case brought before the court, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, held that INEC ignored due process in exercising its powers under Section 225(a) of the Constitution (as amended).

The appellate court ruled that the matter of deregistration of the affected political parties was already in court before INEC took the decision, adding that it failed to inform the parties why they could no longer exist.

The Court of Appeal also proceeded to set aside the June 11, 2020 judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja and ordered that the appellants should henceforth be listed as political parties in the country.

The parties are the Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD), Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP), All Blending Party (ABP), All Grand Alliance Party (AGAP), Alliance of Social Democrats (ASD), Change Advocacy Party (CAP), Democratic People’s Congress (DPC), Green Party of Nigeria (GPN), Masses Movement of Nigeria (MMN) and Mega Party of Nigeria (MPN).

Others are: New Generation Party of Nigeria (NGPA), Nigeria For Democracy (NFD), Peoples Coalition Party (PCP), Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), People for Democratic Change (PDC), Young Democratic Party (YDP), Re-Build Nigeria Party (RBNP), Save Nigeria Congress (SNC), Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN), United Democratic Party (UDP), United Patriots (UP) and We The People of Nigeria (WTPN).