The Federal High Court in Abuja has barred the electoral commission, INEC, from deregistering some political parties.
Anwuli Chikere, the presiding judge gave the order on Monday, February 17, 2020, following a suit by some of the affected parties.
The judge, in her ruling, said INEC failed to counter the application by the applicants whose rights must be protected.
INEC had earlier deregistered 74 political parties.
Mahmoud Yakubu, the INEC chairman, said the action was in preparation for the coming 2023 general elections.
The INEC chairman further said the deregistration followed the poor performance of the parties in the 2019 general elections and court-ordered re-run elections arising from litigations.
According to him, the 74 political parties did not satisfy the requirements of the Fourth Alteration to the Constitutional Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).
74 Political Parties Axed From INEC’s Register, 18 Survive
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has deregistered seventy-four political parties.
This suggests that only eighteen political parties survived the de-registration process.
The commission carried out a review of the performance of political parties after the 2019 general elections to see which parties qualify to exists.
Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, February 6, 2020.
Although a total of 75 parties were listed for de-registration, one of thme – Action People’s Party, APP – obtained a court order restraining the electoral umpire from deregistering it.
Here is the full list of the 18 political parties that scaled the deregistration process:
Accord (A)
Action Alliance (AA)
African Action Congress (AAC)
African Democratic Congress (ADC)
Action Democratic Party (ADP)
All Progressives Congress (APC)
All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)
Allied People’s Movement (APM)
Action People’s Party (APP)
Boot Party (BP)
Labour Party (LP)
New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)
National Rescue Movement (NRM)
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
Peoples Redemption Party (PRP)
Social Democratic Party (SDP)
Young Progressive Party (YPP)
Zenith Labour Party (ZLP)
Meanwhile, the Commission has fixed September 19, 2020, for the governorship election in Edo and October 10, 2020, for the gubernatorial Ondo State.
