The delicate balance of Nigeria’s multi-party democracy is facing a historic test following a sweeping judicial intervention by the Federal High Court in Abuja, which ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties for failing to meet constitutional performance requirements ahead of the 2027 general elections. Delivering judgment in a suit brought forward by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), Justice Peter Lifu ruled that the targeted parties—which include the ADC, Accord Party, Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Action Alliance (AA), and the Action Peoples Party (APP)—failed to achieve the mandatory electoral thresholds specified under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution, a legal stance strongly backed by the Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), who argued that underperforming parties cause unnecessary ballot congestion and waste public resources.
The leadership of the ADC, through its National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi, has swiftly and completely rejected the ruling as a provocative attempt to silence opposition voices and forcefully clear the political landscape, announcing an immediate challenge at the Court of Appeal to protect the party’s structures, which are widely expected to serve as a frontline platform for major political figures like Atiku Abubakar in the upcoming presidential race.
This judicial clearing of the field, combined with a separate controversial Federal High Court ruling in Lokoja that vacated an earlier order compelling INEC to register the Peter Obi-aligned Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) over logo disputes, has sent shockwaves through smaller political entities, raising critical warnings from analysts that the systematic dismantling of viable alternative platforms risks driving the country into a monolithic, one-party state and deeply eroding public trust long before the 2027 polls open.
