By Ambrose Amos
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has set aside a judgment of the Federal High Court in Lokoja that would amount to the deregistration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
In a 2–1 majority decision, the appellate court held that the ruling of 26 June 2026 amounted to an abuse of power. It said a Federal High Court cannot sit on appeal over its own earlier judgment of 10 December 2025, which had directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the NDC.
The court dismissed the controversy over the NDC’s use of a logo said to belong to another political association, the Peace Movement Party (PMP). That claim had been central to Justice Isah Dashen’s decision to set aside the December 2025 judgment.
The majority held that the PMP, not being a registered political party, was merely a “meddlesome interloper” and an “errant spoiler.” It further held that the political association lacked the legal right to institute the application in the first place.
The two justices said the PMP was only an interested party, not a necessary party. They held that its non-inclusion in the suit that produced the December 2025 judgment did not amount to a breach of its right to fair hearing.
The majority restated that a trial court lacks jurisdiction to review or vary its own final judgment, except to correct clerical errors. After a final judgment is entered, any further challenge must go to the Court of Appeal.
In a dissenting judgment, Justice Okon Abang affirmed the Federal High Court’s decision ordering the deregistration of the NDC. He held that the NDC filed its action challenging INEC’s refusal to register it out of time.
According to him, the party sued 53 days after the cause of action arose, instead of within the 14 days prescribed by the Electoral Act after receipt of INEC’s letter of refusal. He therefore concluded that the trial court acted without jurisdiction in hearing a suit filed out of time. That is the suit which resulted in the judgment of 10 December 2025.
Justice Abang also questioned why the NDC travelled to the Lokoja Division of the Federal High Court instead Abuja to challenge INEC’s refusal. He described the choice of venue as forum-shopping aimed at obtaining a favourable verdict.
In December 2025, the Federal High Court in Lokoja ordered INEC to register the NDC after the commission had refused.
On 26 June 2026, Justice Isah Dashen, of the same court, set aside that judgment on an application by the Peace Movement Party (PMP). The court held that PMP claimed that the logo used by the NDC made it a necessary party that had not been joined, and that the earlier proceedings were therefore defective.
It ordered a return to the pre-December 2025 status quo and a fresh hearing with all parties joined.
The NDC argued the court had become functus officio after delivering a final judgment, had no jurisdiction to revisit it on an interlocutory application, issued no explicit deregistration order, and that PMP lacked standing as an unregistered association.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the registration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), overturning a Federal High Court judgment that had set aside the party’s registration.
The appellate court, in a 2–1 majority decision, ruled that the Federal High Court in Lokoja was wrong to revisit its earlier judgment ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the NDC.
According to the court, the trial court cannot sit on appeal over its own final judgment, except for limited purposes such as correcting clerical errors.
The earlier judgment had ordered INEC to register the NDC after the electoral commission refused to recognise the party.
However, on June 26, 2026, Justice Isah Dashen of the same Federal High Court set aside that judgment following an application by the Peace Movement Party (PMP).
PMP had argued that the NDC’s logo was similar to one belonging to the association and that it should have been joined in the earlier case.
The majority rejected the argument, holding that PMP was not a registered political party and did not have the legal standing to challenge the earlier judgment.
They described PMP as a “meddlesome interloper” and an “errant spoiler,” while holding that it was an interested party rather than a necessary party.
The judges also held that the association’s absence from the original case did not amount to a denial of fair hearing.
They described PMP as a “meddlesome interloper” and an “errant spoiler,” while holding that it was an interested party rather than a necessary party.
The judges also held that the association’s absence from the original case did not amount to a denial of fair hearing.
The majority further maintained that once a Federal High Court delivers a final judgment, it cannot review or vary that judgment in the manner attempted in the June 26 decision. Any challenge to such a judgment, it said, should be taken to the Court of Appeal.
However, one of the three justices, Justice Okon Abang, disagreed with the majority and upheld the Federal High Court’s decision.
In his dissenting judgment, Abang held that the NDC’s original case against INEC was filed outside the time allowed by law.
According to him, the NDC instituted the case 53 days after the cause of action arose, instead of within the 14 days prescribed by the Electoral Act after receiving INEC’s refusal.
He therefore held that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case.
Justice Abang also questioned why the NDC chose the Lokoja Division of the Federal High Court rather than Abuja to challenge INEC’s refusal, describing the decision as forum-shopping.
The dispute began after INEC refused to register the NDC, prompting the party to approach the Federal High Court in Lokoja.
On December 10, 2025, the court ordered INEC to register the party. The decision was later challenged by PMP over the NDC’s logo.
Justice Dashen subsequently set aside the earlier judgment on June 26, 2026, ordering the matter to return to its pre-December 2025 position for a fresh hearing involving the parties he considered necessary.
The NDC appealed the decision, arguing that the Federal High Court had become functus officio after issuing its final judgment and could not reopen the case through an interlocutory application.
It also argued that PMP, being an unregistered political association, lacked the standing to seek the reversal of the judgment.
The Court of Appeal’s latest decision comes days after INEC updated the NDC’s details on its official website following another Federal High Court judgment in Abuja.
That case deals with the party’s modified logo, which was adopted at its first National Executive Committee meeting on March 25, 2026.
Justice J. O. Abdulmalik ordered INEC to recognise the modified logo, including its symbol and colours, for the party’s political activities and participation in elections.
INEC subsequently updated the NDC’s profile, listing Senator Cleopas Moses Zuwoghe as National Chairman and Barrister Ikenna Morgan Enekwelzu as National Secretary, among other officials.
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