Last Friday, a federal high court in Lokoja set aside its earlier judgement, which compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) as a political party.
Isah Dashen, presiding judge, ruled that the December 10, 2025 judgement was reached without hearing all necessary parties, rendering the proceedings constitutionally defective.
The suit, marked FHC/LKJ/CS/49/2025, was filed by Emmanuel Uzowuru, protem national legal adviser of the Peace Movement Party (PMP), for herself and as a representative of the PMP.
In December 2025, the federal high court in Lokoja ordered INEC to register NDC as a political party after the commission failed to register the party.
INEC had argued that it did not register the party due to issues with the proposed logo and symbol.
On February 5, 2026, Joash Amupitan, INEC chairman, said “only two” out of the eight associations seeking political party status “qualified for final assessment and verification of due compliance with the constitution and the Electoral Act”.
Despite not being part of the pre-qualified associations, the NDC was also registered by INEC.
Displeased with the December 2025 judgement, PMP approached the court and argued that it had a legal interest in the case and should have been made a party before the court delivered judgement.
The applicant told the court that the earlier judgement was “obtained without disclosure of material facts touching directly on its own application for registration as a political party and its prior interest in the disputed two-finger victory logo”.
Dashen held that the applicant had established sufficient interest to be a party in the proceedings.
The presiding judge said the omission rendered the entire process null and void.
He also held that material facts were not disclosed during the earlier proceedings, making it necessary to vacate the previous order.
Consequently, he ordered that the status quo be restored to what it was before the December 2025 judgement, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The court also ordered that the substantive suit begin afresh, with INEC, the PMP and the NDC joined as parties.
