Appeal Court halts enforcement of judgement ordering ADC, four parties’ deregistration

Appeal Court halts enforcement of judgement ordering ADC, four parties’ deregistration

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has suspended the enforcement of a Federal High Court judgement that directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.

A three-member panel of the appellate court, headed by Justice Abba Mohammed, issued the order in a unanimous ruling delivered on Tuesday.

The court held that the trial judge, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, proceeded to deliver the judgement despite an earlier directive from the Court of Appeal ordering a stay of proceedings in the case.

According to the appellate court, the lower court had on May 22 been instructed to suspend further action on the matter pending the determination of appeals already filed before it.

In its ruling, the panel said Justice Lifu acted in disregard of the subsisting order of the appellate court when he went ahead to pronounce judgement in the suit.

The decision effectively puts on hold the implementation of the Federal High Court ruling that sought to compel INEC to remove the ADC and four other political parties from its register until the pending appeals are determined.