The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja seeking a stay of execution of the Federal High Court judgment that ordered the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.
The electoral umpire also backed the affected parties’ appeal against the judgment, urging the appellate court to halt the enforcement of the ruling pending the determination of the appeal.
Appearing before a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, INEC, through its legal team led by Haliru Mohammed, said it was concerned by the circumstances surrounding the delivery of the Federal High Court judgment by Justice Peter Lifu.
The commission informed the court that it was aware of an earlier order of the appellate court stopping the lower court from delivering judgment in the matter.
“My Lords, we are aware of an order that this court made on May 22, which stopped the delivery of the judgment of the lower court, which was initially reserved for delivery on June 5,” INEC told the court.
The commission said it was not served with any notice indicating that the judgment would be delivered and only became aware of the decision through media reports.
“We were not aware of any notice from the court regarding the delivery of the judgment. We only saw it as breaking news in the media,” the electoral body stated.
INEC said it would not oppose the application by the political parties seeking to suspend the implementation of the deregistration order.
The Federal High Court judgment had ordered the deregistration of the ADC and four other political parties, a decision that has generated controversy among political stakeholders and renewed debate over electoral regulation, judicial processes, and the survival of Nigeria’s multiparty democracy.
The appeal proceedings are expected to determine whether the judgment should remain in effect pending the final resolution of the legal dispute.
