The Court of Appeal in Abuja has ordered a stay of execution of the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties.
Ruling on the matter on Tuesday, a three-member panel of the appellate court berated Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court for proceeding to hear the case and issuing the order.
The panel said this was despite an earlier order of the Court of Appeal and the fact that the matter was already pending before it.
The Court of Appeal held that Justice Lifu exhibited judicial rascality by proceeding to hear the case and make the order.
The appellate court subsequently ordered a stay of execution of the judgment.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Lifu had, on Monday, ordered the deregistration of five political parties.
The parties are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action People’s Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and Accord Party (AP).
In his judgment, the judge held that the parties failed to meet the constitutional threshold stipulated under Section 225 of the 1999 Constitution.
Section 225 of the Constitution empowers the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister political parties that fail to meet constitutional requirements.
NAN
