The Court of Appeal in Abuja has postponed the hearing of appeals challenging the judgement that directed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to deregister the African Democratic Congress, ADC and four other political parties, till July 14.
The three-man panel, led by Justice Abba Mohammed, adjourned the matter after some parties informed the court that they had only recently been served with court processes and required time to file their responses.
The adjournment is intended to allow all parties to regularise their filings before the substantive hearing begins.
The appeals were filed by the ADC; Action Peoples Party, APP; Action Alliance, AA; Accord Party, AP and Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, all of which are seeking to overturn the Federal High Court’s decision ordering their deregistration.
Earlier, the Court of Appeal had suspended the enforcement of the judgement and criticised the trial judge, Justice Peter Lifu, for proceeding with the case despite an existing order directing him to halt proceedings pending the determination of the appeal.
The disputed judgement had ordered INEC to remove the five parties from its register, citing their alleged failure to satisfy constitutional requirements for continued registration.
It also restrained the electoral body from recognising the parties or accepting their candidates for future elections.
The suit was instituted by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which argued that the affected parties failed to meet the electoral performance thresholds prescribed by the Constitution.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
