Eric Ikhilae, Abuja
A FEDERAL High Court in Abuja has restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from deregistering 31 political parties.
In a ruling on Monday, Justice Anwuli Chikere noted that since the respondents failed to counter an application by the affected political parties (the plaintiffs), they have a legal right the court must protect.
It was not clear if yesterday’s order of the court was on the deregistration of 74 political parties the INEC announced on February 6.
This is because the interlocutory application on which the court gave its ruling was filed on October 30, 2019, while the substantive suit was filed earlier by 33 political parties.
In the application filed on October 30, 2019, the political parties prayed the court for “an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the second defendant from deregistering the plaintiffs, or any political party for that matter, pending the determination of this suit”.
They noted that “on June 4, 2018, the President signed the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (Fourth Alteration No. 9) Act, 2017 into law.
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“By the said Act, a new Section (225A) was inserted into the Constitution, which provides grounds for de-registration of political parties.”
The suit has Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD) and 32 others as plaintiffs, with the Attorney General of the Federation and INEC as defendants.
The applicants prayed the court for restraining orders against the defendants.
Two of the plaintiffs – Labour Party (LP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) – have been dropped from the suit because they were not deregistered by INEC.
When the case was mentioned, plaintiffs’ lawyer Kehinde Edun sought to inform the court about a development in the case, without the court granting him audience.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Chikere noted that the plaintiffs had sought an order restraining the electoral umpire from deregistering them.
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