Appeal Court Upholds Registration of NDC

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the registration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), overturning a Federal High Court judgment that had set aside the party’s registration.

The appellate court, in a 2–1 majority decision, ruled that the Federal High Court in Lokoja was wrong to revisit its earlier judgment ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the NDC.

According to the court, the trial court cannot sit on appeal over its own final judgment, except for limited purposes such as correcting clerical errors.

The earlier judgment had ordered INEC to register the NDC after the electoral commission refused to recognise the party.

However, on June 26, 2026, Justice Isah Dashen of the same Federal High Court set aside that judgment following an application by the Peace Movement Party (PMP).

PMP had argued that the NDC’s logo was similar to one belonging to the association and that it should have been joined in the earlier case.

The majority rejected the argument, holding that PMP was not a registered political party and did not have the legal standing to challenge the earlier judgment.

They described PMP as a “meddlesome interloper” and an “errant spoiler,” while holding that it was an interested party rather than a necessary party.

The judges also held that the association’s absence from the original case did not amount to a denial of fair hearing.

The majority further maintained that once a Federal High Court delivers a final judgment, it cannot review or vary that judgment in the manner attempted in the June 26 decision. Any challenge to such a judgment, it said, should be taken to the Court of Appeal.

However, one of the three justices, Justice Okon Abang, disagreed with the majority and upheld the Federal High Court’s decision.

In his dissenting judgment, Abang held that the NDC’s original case against INEC was filed outside the time allowed by law.

According to him, the NDC instituted the case 53 days after the cause of action arose, instead of within the 14 days prescribed by the Electoral Act after receiving INEC’s refusal.

He therefore held that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case.

Justice Abang also questioned why the NDC chose the Lokoja Division of the Federal High Court rather than Abuja to challenge INEC’s refusal, describing the decision as forum-shopping.

The dispute began after INEC refused to register the NDC, prompting the party to approach the Federal High Court in Lokoja.

On December 10, 2025, the court ordered INEC to register the party. The decision was later challenged by PMP over the NDC’s logo.

Justice Dashen subsequently set aside the earlier judgment on June 26, 2026, ordering the matter to return to its pre-December 2025 position for a fresh hearing involving the parties he considered necessary.

The NDC appealed the decision, arguing that the Federal High Court had become functus officio after issuing its final judgment and could not reopen the case through an interlocutory application.

It also argued that PMP, being an unregistered political association, lacked the standing to seek the reversal of the judgment.

The Court of Appeal’s latest decision comes days after INEC updated the NDC’s details on its official website following another Federal High Court judgment in Abuja.

That case deals with the party’s modified logo, which was adopted at its first National Executive Committee meeting on March 25, 2026.

Justice J. O. Abdulmalik ordered INEC to recognise the modified logo, including its symbol and colours, for the party’s political activities and participation in elections.

INEC subsequently updated the NDC’s profile, listing Senator Cleopas Moses Zuwoghe as National Chairman and Barrister Ikenna Morgan Enekwelzu as National Secretary, among other officials.

Meanwhile, the national leader of the party, Senator Seriake Dickson, has confirmed the development.

In a post on X, the former Bayelsa State Governor commended the judiciary for its integrity.

He wrote:

Fellow Party Members and Nigerians,

Today, the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, has set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court, Lokoja, delivered by Justice Isah Dashen a few months ago, which purported to order the deregistration of our party, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

In a judgment delivered by the presiding Justice, Justice Mohammed Danjuma and read by Justice Hassan, the Court ruled in favour of allowing our appeal, which challenged the faulty ruling of the Federal High Court, Lokoja, and accordingly, set aside Justice Dashen’s judgment.

We want to use this opportunity once again to commend the Nigerian judiciary, and in particular, Hon. Justice Danjuma and Hon. Justice Hassan, for upholding the integrity of the Nigerian judiciary and, by their decisions, expanding the sphere of multiparty democratic participation in Nigeria.

We have said repeatedly that the NDC was set up to expand the frontier of multiparty democracy in Nigeria. Justice Dashen’s judgment a few months ago was an unexpected assault on our constitutional right to participate and an attempt to narrow the democratic space.

Happily, today, by the decision of the Court of Appeal, the Nigerian democratic space has been protected, and the NDC’s right to participate in all political activities as a registered political party has been upheld.

I congratulate all members and candidates of our great party, the NDC, and thank Nigerians for their prayers and support.

When the unexpected judgment of the Lokoja Federal High Court was delivered, we were bombarded with several calls for sympathy, support and prayers. Today, our collective prayers have been answered.

The NDC continues to exist. Our registration remains valid and subsisting, and we and all our candidates will participate in all elections in 2027 and beyond, by the grace of God.

Everyone should now focus on the campaigns, prepare for the elections, and focus on the task ahead to face the APC and defeat them at the polls.

A resort to arm-twisting, inducing or intimidating the judiciary will not work. We remain confident in the strength of our message, the commitment of our members, the viability of our candidates, and the support of Nigerians. With this conviction, we look forward to the forthcoming elections and are confident that the NDC will emerge victorious at the polls, by the grace of God.

The fight for Nigeria’s multiparty democracy continues and by the grace of God we will emerge victorious.

NDC ALL THE WAY✌️

~HSD