Isaac Samuel
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has ordered a stay of execution of the Federal High Court judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.
The appellate court directed INEC not to take any steps towards implementing the deregistration pending the determination of appeals filed by the affected parties against the lower court’s decision.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja had on Monday ordered INEC to deregister the ADC, Accord Party (AP) and three other political parties, citing their alleged failure to satisfy constitutional requirements for continued registration.
However, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal on Tuesday faulted the delivery of the judgment, describing it as a “brazen disregard” for an earlier order of the appellate court and an act of “judicial impertinence.”
During proceedings, counsel to INEC, Haliru Mohammed, informed the court that the commission was surprised by the delivery of the judgment despite an existing order of the Court of Appeal suspending its delivery.
According to him, the appellate court had, on May 22, restrained the Federal High Court from delivering its judgment, which had initially been scheduled for June 5.
“My Lords, we are aware of an order that this court made on May 22, which stopped the delivery of the judgment of the lower court, which was initially reserved for delivery on June 5,” Mohammed said.
He added that INEC was neither notified of a new date for the judgment nor served with any communication indicating that the decision would be delivered.
“We were not aware of any notice from the court regarding the delivery of the judgment. We only saw it as breaking news in the media,” he said, noting that the commission did not oppose the application seeking a stay of execution.
Counsel to the ADC, Shuaibu Aruwa, alleged that the trial judge communicated the judgment date to the party through WhatsApp and accused the judge of ignoring the appellate court’s directive.
“Sincerely, my Lords, a lot has happened to the judiciary and this profession. What the trial judge did was dare this court of appeal by insisting that no one could arrest his judgment, even after his attention was drawn to the stay order from this court,” Aruwa said.
He urged the appellate court to take urgent steps to suspend the judgment in order to preserve the integrity of its earlier orders.
Other parties in the suit also argued that allowing the judgment to stand could create uncertainty ahead of by-elections scheduled to hold on June 20 in six states.
The Court of Appeal subsequently granted the application for a stay of execution, effectively putting the deregistration order on hold pending the hearing and determination of the substantive appeals.
