Atiku applauds Appeal Court's decision on ADC deregistration case

In a message on his verified X account on Tuesday, Atiku Abubakar reacted to the Appeal Court's order. He said this intervention is important, especially since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) supported the request to pause the enforcement of the earlier court ruling.

“I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgment seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties,” he said. He also pointed out, “It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.”

Atiku raised concerns about conflicting court decisions and rulings that have political implications. He believes these issues have put the judiciary under serious public scrutiny.

“The disturbing spectacle of judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings playing out in our courts has placed the judiciary under intense public scrutiny,” he said.

The former vice president also supported comments made by the ADC’s national chairperson, David Mark. They agreed that recent events have made people question the judiciary's integrity.

He warned against any actions that could harm democratic institutions. He called on the courts to uphold the principles of the constitution and the rule of law.

“Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic,” he stated.

Atiku added that the judiciary can still choose to “stand firmly on the side of the Constitution, the rule of law, and the Nigerian people.”

If the judgment had not been paused or set aside, it would have removed the ADC’s presidential candidate from next year’s elections before the time.

The Court of Appeal stopped the execution of the verdict on Tuesday because the trial judge had acted against an earlier order to pause proceedings.

The trial judge, Peter Lifu, had ordered the deregistration of the ADC and four other parties for allegedly not meeting the constitutional performance standards in past elections.

Mr Lifu ordered INEC on Monday to deregister the ADC, Accord, Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

This judgment came after a lawsuit by the National Forum of Former Legislators against INEC and the affected political parties.

The plaintiffs claimed that the parties did not meet the constitutional requirements for staying registered under Section 225 (a) of the Nigerian constitution. They asked the court to force INEC to remove them from its register.

Mr Lifu agreed with the plaintiffs and instructed INEC to stop recognizing the parties and prevent them from nominating candidates for future elections.

INEC, which opposed the lawsuit during the trial, went to the Court of Appeal on Tuesday to request a stay of execution of the judgment.

During Tuesday's hearing, INEC asked the appellate court to pause the verdict in line with a previous Court of Appeal order stopping proceedings at the Federal High Court until the appeal is resolved.

The lawyer for the ADC also asked the appellate court to step in, arguing that the trial court continued with the judgment despite the Court of Appeal's existing stay order.

In a ruling from a three-member panel led by A. Muhammed, the Court of Appeal criticized Mr Lifu for ignoring the Court of Appeal’s stay order.

The appellate court then suspended the execution of the judgment while waiting for the main appeal, which is set for June 25.