Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, and other candidates of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Accord Party, Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) remain eligible to contest the 2027 general elections after the Court of Appeal granted a stay of execution on a Federal High Court judgment that ordered the deregistration of their parties.
This came after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) approached the Court of Appeal to seek a stay of execution, a move that secured the temporary reprieve for the five political parties.
In a unanimous ruling on Tuesday, a three-member panel led by Justice A.B. Mohammed suspended the enforcement of Justice Peter Lifu’s judgment pending the determination of the substantive appeal filed by the affected parties.
The appellate court strongly criticized the trial judge for proceeding with the judgment despite a subsisting order from the Court of Appeal issued on May 22, which directed him to suspend proceedings, describing the action as “judicial rascality” and a “brazen violation” of judicial hierarchy .
INEC’s counsel, Haliru Mohammed, told the court that the commission was surprised by the lower court’s decision to deliver the judgment, stating that INEC was not officially notified of the judgment delivery and only became aware of the ruling through media reports .
“We were aware of an order that this court made on May 22, which stopped the delivery of the judgment of the lower court, which was initially reserved for delivery on June 5. We were not aware of any notice from the court regarding the delivery of the judgment. We only saw it as breaking news in the media. We therefore do not oppose the application of the appellant to stay the execution of the judgment,” Mohammed said .
Counsel to the ADC, Shuaibu Aruwa (SAN), informed the appellate court that the party received notification of the judgment via WhatsApp from the trial court.
He urged the court to intervene, arguing that the lower court’s decision was delivered despite the subsisting order of the Court of Appeal.
“What the trial judge did was dare this Court of Appeal by insisting that no one could arrest his judgment, even after his attention was drawn to the stay order from this court,” Aruwa said.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court had on Monday ordered INEC to deregister the ADC, APP, Action Alliance, Accord Party, and ZLP.
The ruling followed a suit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which argued that the parties failed to meet the constitutional requirements for retaining registration under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution.
An immediate enforcement of the judgment would have automatically disqualified Atiku Abubakar, who emerged last month as the ADC’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election, and barred Governor Adeleke, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the Accord Party.
Other candidates of the affected parties would also have been excluded from participating in the 2027 polls .
Following Tuesday’s ruling, the five political parties remain fully registered pending the outcome of their substantive appeals.
The Court of Appeal has fixed a date for the hearing of the main appeal, which will determine the final fate of the parties’ registration status.
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