Court affirms INEC’s deregistration of 32 political parties

A federal high court in Abuja has affirmed the deregistration of 32 political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

Anwuli Chikere, in a judgment delivered on Thursday, dismissed the suit filed by the parties against INEC on the grounds that they failed to prove their case.

Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, on February 6, 2020, deregistered 74 political parties.

He said they failed to meet the criteria provided for by section 225A of the 1999 constitution (as amended) which include: ”Failure to win at least 25 percent of the votes cast in one state in a presidential election or 25 percent of the votes cast in one local government area, and failure to win at least one ward in a Chairmanship election, one seat in the national or state assembly election or one seat in a councilorship election”.

Aggrieved, some of the parties jointly filed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/444/2019 asking the court to determine whether INEC has the constitutional power to deregister them.

The judge had on February 17, granted a restraining order against INEC pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

Giving the judgment, Chikere held that the commission lawfully deregistered the parties as enshrined in the provision of section 225(a) of the Nigerian constitution.