A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to proceed with the registration of the All Democratic Alliance (ADA) and release its access code to the Akin Ricketts-led leadership of the political association.
In October 2025, INEC announced that ADA and seven other associations, out of the 14 pre-qualified seeking registration as political parties, had successfully completed the upload of all required information and documentation.
The commission said the next stage of the registration process for the eight associations would be the detailed assessment and verification of the information and documents they submitted.
The associations are Citizens Democratic Alliance (CDA), All Democratic Alliance (ADA), Abundance Social Party (ASP), African Alliance Party (AAP), Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA), Green Future Party (GFP), National Democratic Party (NDP) and Peoples Freedom Party (PFP).
In a judgement delivered on Monday, Peter Lifu, the presiding judge, directed INEC to release the access code to ADA’s interim secretary within 72 hours.
After reviewing the submissions of all parties, the judge nullified all steps and actions taken on behalf of ADA by Umar Ardo.
The judge faulted the commission for issuing the access code to Ardo, whom he said was not the recognised acting secretary of the association.
Lifu declared INEC’s action “illegal, wrongful, null and void”.
The judge also ordered the commission to reopen its portal for one week to enable the plaintiff to upload the documents required for the registration process, including the party’s membership register.
The plaintiff, through Stephen Atabo, its counsel, sued INEC and Ardo, seeking a declaration that the electoral commission violated the law by issuing the access code to the second defendant.
The plaintiff argued that Ardo is neither the pro tem national chairman nor the pro tem national secretary of the association.
The suit further stated that the information on INEC’s portal differed from the details contained in the plaintiff’s letter of intent and urged the court to declare the information illegal, unlawful, null and void.
The plaintiff also sought an order directing INEC to release the access code to enable the association to upload the documents required for its registration as a political party.
The plaintiff also asked the court to compel INEC to register the association as a political party and issue it a certificate of registration.
Justice Lifu also directed INEC to extend the May 10, 2026, deadline for the submission of the party’s digital membership register and the May 30, 2026, deadline for the submission of the candidate list.
