A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Jibrin Okutepa, has faulted the decision of the Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja to set aside its earlier judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) as a political party, describing the ruling as legally questionable.
In a statement issued on Monday, June 29, 2026, Okutepa said he deliberately withheld comments on the ruling delivered by Justice Dashen until he had studied the judgment.
According to him, after reviewing the judgment, he was left wondering why the court reversed its own December 2025 judgment, which had ordered INEC, the sole defendant in the suit, to register the NDC as a political party.
"I have resisted the urge to comment on the ruling of Hon Mr Justice Dashen of the Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja on the NDC matter until I read the judgement," Okutepa said.
"Having read the judgement I am just wondering why the learned trial judge agreed to set the judgement his lordship gave in December 2025 wherein INEC the only Defendant in that case was ordered to register NDC as a political party.
