ABUJA — The man at the center of Nigeria’s escalating political crisis is a judge. His name is Peter Lifu. On June 15, he did something the Court of Appeal had already told him not to do.
Lifu, a Federal High Court judge, proceeded to hear a case seeking the deregistration of five opposition political parties. The Court of Appeal had issued a stay of execution on May 22.
It stopped Lifu from delivering a reserved ruling initially scheduled for June 5. Lifu ignored that order. He went ahead anyway.
He upheld the argument of the National Forum of Former Legislators, who had sued to have the parties removed from the ballot. The parties on the chopping block are the Accord Party, Action Alliance, Action Peoples Party, African Democratic Congress, and Zenith Labour Party.
The litigants argued these parties failed to meet constitutional thresholds for registration. They pointed to poor electoral performance in the 2023 general elections and subsequent polls. They claimed allowing these parties to contest the 2027 elections would violate the 1999 Constitution and undermine the electoral system.
Lifu agreed. He ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister them. The problem is that the Court of Appeal had stopped him from doing exactly that.
The appellate court’s order was active when Lifu made his ruling. He defied it.
That is not a small thing. It raises questions about judicial hierarchy, about which court’s orders actually bind lower benches, and about the independence of the judiciary from political pressure. The National Forum of Former Legislators brought the case under Section 225 A-C of the 1999 Constitution.
That section gives INEC the power to deregister parties. But the process is supposed to follow due procedure.
The Court of Appeal had already intervened to pause that procedure. Lifu’s decision to push forward anyway has created a legal standoff. The appellate court’s order exists.
The high court’s ruling exists. They contradict each other. Nobody has resolved which one prevails.
This is not a theoretical debate. Nigeria’s political landscape is now under strain.
Five parties with existing structures, candidates, and voter bases face sudden extinction. Their members and supporters are watching a court in Abuja decide their political future in a single sitting, despite a higher court’s instruction to wait. The timing matters.
The 2027 elections are not far off. If the deregistration stands, those five parties cannot field candidates.
Their voters would have to choose among remaining parties, or stay home. That reshapes the political map before a single vote is cast. And the manner of the ruling — delivered in defiance of an appellate stay — has fueled talk of political interference.
Critics say the judiciary is being used to clear the field. Supporters of the ruling say the law is the law, and poor electoral performance is a valid reason for deregistration. But the legal process itself is now the story.
A lower court judge overrode a stay from a higher court. That is not normal.
That is not routine. That is a break in the chain of judicial authority. If it stands, it sets a precedent.
If it is overturned, the five parties survive — for now. Either way, the damage to confidence in the courts is real.
The Court of Appeal ordered a halt. Judge Lifu did not halt. That single fact — a judge hearing a case he was told not to hear — is the center of this story.
Everything else flows from it. The deregistration is the result. The political chaos is the consequence.
But the cause is a judge who chose to proceed.
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