The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has ordered a stay of execution of the Federal High Court judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties, while sharply condemning the trial judge, Justice Peter Lifu, for what it described as judicial rascality.
The appellate court held that Justice Lifu acted in flagrant disregard of a subsisting Court of Appeal order when he proceeded to hear and deliver the judgment on Monday, despite the pendency of the matter before the higher court.
The five parties affected by Justice Lifu’s Monday judgment are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and Accord Party (AP).
The Federal High Court had ordered their deregistration on the ground that they failed to meet the constitutional threshold prescribed by Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution a provision that empowers INEC to deregister political parties that are unable to return any candidate in a general election.
With Tuesday’s order, the deregistration directive is now on hold pending the determination of appeals filed by the affected parties.
