Federal High Court Axes Five Parties, Including ADC, Accord, Over Election Performance

In a landmark judgment, the Federal High Court in Abuja has directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord, Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) from its list of registered political parties. According to the court, these parties failed to meet the constitutional threshold of securing at least 25 per cent of the votes in the last general elections. The ruling, delivered by Justice Peter Lifu on Monday, is in response to a suit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators. The plaintiffs had argued that the parties in question did not fulfill the necessary electoral requirements, citing their performance in the elections as evidence. Justice Lifu, having considered the arguments and dismissed preliminary objections from the defendants, ordered INEC to take immediate action against the affected parties, effectively barring them from participating in future elections, including the 2027 polls. This decision is based on the provisions of the law that dictate the criteria for political parties to remain registered and active in the country's electoral process. The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, names INEC as the first defendant and includes the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as a party to the case. The forum's argument centered around the parties' inability to achieve the required electoral spread and performance, a claim that the defendants failed to effectively counter.