2023: End of Road for 74 Political Parties as Supreme Court Affirms Deregistration.
The hope of 74 de-registered political parties to partake in the 2023 general elections came to a final end today with the Supreme Court affirming their nullification by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC.
The apex court upheld the judgment of the Court of Appeal which had in earlier judgment okayed the reregistration of National Unity Party and others.
INEC had last year deregistered the parties over failures to win any election during the 2019 general election.
In the judgment, delivered by Justice Adamu Jauro, the apex court said the deregistration of NUP, one of the 74 parties, was done in line with the laws and compliance with the extant provisions of the Constitution and Electoral Act.
With the latest judgment, the hope of the 74 parties deregistered to participate in the 2023 general elections has come to a final end.
In the appeal before the apex court, NUP challenged their deregistration by INEC at the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal.
The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal had on July 29, 2020, affirmed the powers of the Independent National Electoral Commission to deregister political parties.
In the Court of Appeal unanimous judgment of a 3-man panel of the court, Justice Mohammed Idris, held that INEC did not err in law in the deregistration of the National Unity Party, which filed the appeal.
The appellate court upturned the judgment of Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja which had earlier in May nullified the deregistration of NUP and 73 other political parties for being in breach of section 225(a)of the Nigeria Constitution.
The said constitutional provision spells out the minimum election victory a party must record or percentage of votes it must poll to sustain its status as a registered political party.
INEC, in deregistering the affected 74 political parties in February stated that they failed to meet the minimum requirement.
Reacting to the judgment, the President of the Inter Party Advisory Council Dr. Leonard Nzenwa hailed the judgment and said the judgment had ended all speculations.
Nzenwa held that the Supreme Court latest judgment will aid INEC to now focus on critical issues in preparation for credible, free and fair 2023 general election.