Court Orders INEC to Register New Party, Gives 27-Day Deadline
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been legally compelled to allow the Grassroot Initiative Party (GRIP) to finalize its registration process.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja issued the directive on Thursday, providing a lifeline to the political association.
Justice Binta Nyako, presiding over the matter, ordered the electoral umpire to grant the group access to its registration portal for a period of 27 days. This window is effective from March 26, 2026.
The court found that INEC’s actions were inconsistent with its own established protocols. Justice Nyako ruled that the commission violated the “Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, 2022.”
This breach occurred when INEC deactivated the registration portal only three days after providing the applicants with an access code.
Under the commission’s existing rules, such access codes are intended to remain functional for a 30-day duration.
However, the portal was shut down long before this period expired, effectively blocking the association from completing its documentation despite the payment of the required ₦2 million administrative fee.
“I hereby order that the defendant (INEC) should open its portal for 27 days from today for the plaintiffs to complete its registration,” Justice Nyako declared during the ruling.
During the proceedings, INEC’s legal team argued that the suit was incompetent and statute-barred. They contended that the plaintiffs failed to file the case within the mandatory 14-day window following the portal’s closure.
Justice Nyako, however, dismissed these arguments. She noted that the commission provided no evidence to prove it had officially notified the applicants of the portal’s early closure.
The judge emphasized that the lack of formal communication significantly weakened INEC’s defense, as the applicants could not be expected to react to a closure they were not notified of.
The legal battle was initiated by Nze Kanayo Chukwumezie and Mohammed Abas Kuti on behalf of the association’s members. Their counsel, Jideofor Ukachukwu, had filed the suit on December 24, 2025, seeking a judicial determination on whether the October 19 portal closure was lawful.
While GRIP secured a victory, two other political associations were not as successful in their legal bids against the commission.
The court dismissed a suit filed by the Green Future Party (GFP). In the case marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2791/2025, Justice Nyako ruled that the applicants failed to satisfy the fundamental constitutional requirements necessary for party registration.
Similarly, the Liberation People’s Party (LPP) lost its bid in suit FHC/ABJ/CS/46/2026. Although the court acknowledged that LPP’s access code was still valid when the portal was deactivated, it held that the party’s own internal actions undermined its legal standing, rendering it ineligible for the sought reliefs.
