The judgement of the Federal High Court in Abuja directing the deregistration of five political parties has again exposed the uneasy tension between constitutional text and democratic spirit in Nigeria. Justice Peter Lifu ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to strike the African Democratic Congress, Accord, Action Alliance, Action People’s Party and Zenith Labour Party off the register for failing to meet performance thresholds in the general elections.
While a subsequent stay of proceedings issued by the Court of Appeal has bought the affected parties a critical reprieve, the core questions remain: can the state lawfully “kill” a political party, and should it?
At the heart of this debate lies a direct constitutional tension between two provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended). Section 40 guarantees every citizen the fundamental right to assemble freely and associate with others, explicitly protecting the right to form or belong to political parties. By contrast, section 225A operates as a constitutional callback clause, restricting that freedom based on strict performance metrics.
Under section 225A, INEC is empowered to deregister a political party that:
