The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties including Accord on whose platform Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke is seeking re-election over failure to meet constitutional parties performance thresholds.
The judge, Peter Lifu, issued the order in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, which was filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators, holding that the affected parties had failed to satisfy constitutional requirements necessary to retain their registration.
Other four parties affected by the ruling are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
In the suit, the plaintiff relied on the Section 225(a) of the Nigerian constitution, which empowered INEC to deregister political parties that fail to meet electoral performance threshold, including securing a prescribed percentage of votes in elections or fail to secure elective positions at the federal, state or local government levels.
Major requirements to retain a party’s registration as provided by the constitution includes winning at least 25 per cent of votes in a state during a presidential election or securing at least one elective seat at the national, state or local government level.
