The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) FCT chapter has congratulated all political parties recently deregistered by INEC, saying the victory recorded at the Court of Appeal was well deserved.
The appeal court sitting in Abuja, Monday in its ruling had nullified the judgement of the lower court on deregistering of 74 political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The appeal court in its judgment said INEC lacked the constitutional powers to deregister political parties.
The court also held that INEC’s action wasn’t in compliance with Section 225 (a) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, as they did not indicate the reason for deregistration of the political parties. The court further held that, the parties are challenging the process of de-registration and not the act.
The court ordered that the appellants should be listed as registered political parties in the country. The court also made reference to section 40 of the constitution and held that citizens are entitled to freedom of association and as such, the right conferred on a party cannot be taken away except by due process.
INEC had argued that the deregistered political parties breached their requirements for registration, as they failed to win at least 25 percent of votes cast in one state of the federation during presidential elections.
In a statement, the IPAC chairman in the FCT, Waziri Sambo, said the decision taken by the appellate court is a victory for Nigeria’s democracy and advised INEC to stop misleading Nigerian citizens.
