Court Of Appeal Stops Deregistration Of ADC, Four Other Parties

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has nullified the Federal High Court judgment that ordered INEC to deregister the African Democratic Congress and four other political parties.

In a unanimous ruling on Tuesday, the three-member panel led by Justice Abba Mohammed held that the earlier judgment was invalid because the lower court lacked jurisdiction.

The appellate court said the Federal High Court acted on an incompetent suit filed by an entity that had no legal standing to institute the case.

It ruled that there was no valid legal basis for the order directing INEC to remove the affected political parties from its register.