The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday ordered the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties for failing to meet constitutional requirements for political parties in Nigeria.
Justice Peter Lifu ruled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should deregister the affected parties after they failed to secure 25 per cent of votes in the last general elections, as required by law.
The parties affected are ADC, Accord (A), Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Justice Lifu also dismissed all preliminary objections raised by the defendants. He further ordered INEC not to allow the parties take part in future elections, including the 2027 general elections, due to their failure to meet the constitutional threshold.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, was filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators against the five political parties.
The group also joined the Attorney-General of the Federation in the suit, while naming INEC as the first defendant.
The plaintiffs argued that the parties did not meet constitutional requirements on electoral spread and performance. They insisted that political parties must secure at least 25 per cent of votes in specified elections to remain valid under the law.
They therefore asked the court to order the deregistration of the parties, saying none of the defendants properly challenged their claims.
