- Safiu Kehinde
The Court of Appeal, Abuja, has upheld the registration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), setting aside the Federal High Court’s judgment in Lokoja, Kogi State, which ordered the deregistration of the party as a political party.
The court affirmed the NDC’s registration as a political party in a split decision of two to one.
According to reports, a three-member panel of the appellate court validated the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) recognition of the NDC, declaring perverse the verdict the high court delivered on July 26.
It held that the lower court engaged in an abuse of power and of the judicial hierarchy when it sat on appeal over its own previous judgment, delivered on December 10, 2025, which had okayed the registration of the NDC by INEC.
In the majority decision by Justice Mohammed Danjuma and Justice Muslim Sule Hassan, the appellate court also dismissed the contention over the NDC’s party logo, which an association under the aegis of the Peace Movement Party (PMP) claimed belonged to it.
The two justices held that there was merit in the appeal that the NDC lodged before the court and accordingly allowed it.
However, Justice Okon Abang, another member of the panel, upheld the deregistration of the NDC as a political party.
Justice Abang said he found no reason to fault the high court, which, he held, acted in line with the tenets of justice and fair hearing.
Recall that the Federal High Court in Lokoja had in a ruling delivered by Justice Isah Dashen voided its earlier ruling that ordered INEC to register the NDC.
The reversal of the order followed an application brought before the court by the PMP, which insisted that it was not joined in the original proceedings despite having a legal interest in the matter.
Isah agreed with the applicant, stressing that all parties with vested interests ought to have been allowed to participate in the proceedings before it issued the order to INEC.
Consequently, the judge ordered a fresh hearing of the case with all the relevant parties properly joined.
Dissatisfied with the decision, the NDC, which had since nominated candidates for the 2027 general elections, took the matter to the Court of Appeal, where it secured victory.