“A judicial coup against democracy.” That was how Victor Afam Ogene, leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) caucus in the House of Representatives, described a Federal High Court ruling in Lokoja, Kogi State, on Friday. The court had set aside its own December 10, 2025 judgment, the one that compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the NDC.
The ruling
Justice Isah Dashen delivered the decision in Suit No. FHC/LKJ/CS/49/2025. He upheld an application by the Peace Movement Party (PMP) and held that it is a necessary party to the case. Its counsel, he said, had shown the party’s legal interest.
The earlier judgment, the judge said, was constitutionally defective because it was delivered without hearing every interested party. That omission made the process null and void. He also observed that certain material facts were suppressed in the earlier proceedings, and he cited that as further reason to set the judgment aside.
Justice Dashen ordered the status quo restored to what it was before the December 2025 judgment, pending the main suit. That suit starts afresh, with INEC, the PMP and the NDC as parties.
C.S. Ekeocha, counsel to the applicant, told journalists the PMP went to court after finding that the NDC’s registration was based on a logo the PMP had submitted to INEC before the original suit began. The court agreed, he said, that his client’s rights were affected.
Ekeocha said every INEC action taken to comply with the vacated judgment now stands reversed. “The recognition of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, the issuance of its certificate of registration, its inclusion in INEC’s records, and any appearance on ballot papers arising from that judgment must be withdrawn pending the final determination of the substantive suit,” he said.
He was just as clear on what the ruling left open. “The matter has not been concluded,” he said. The court only set aside its previous judgment and ordered the affected party joined. He also rejected suggestions that the court had merely told the parties to hold the status quo, saying the ruling specifically restored the position before December 10, 2025.
The NDC answers
The party’s National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, signed a statement rejecting the ruling. The NDC said the PMP is an unknown, unregistered association with no standing to ask for the earlier judgment to be reversed. It said the PMP claimed, in a motion rather than a full suit or an appeal, that it had sought registration in 2015 with the victory sign as its symbol and was refused.
The NDC also argued that the trial court was functus officio after its final judgment in December 2025 and could not revisit the matter. If the PMP felt wronged, the party said, it should have filed an appeal within the statutory period. Going at the verdict “through the back door, via a motion,” the statement said, is “illegal and an outright abuse of court process.”
“There was no order directing our deregistration,” the statement said. The NDC said it has instructed its lawyers to go to the Court of Appeal and that its nominations and activities remain valid. Since registration, it said, it has held congresses, conventions and primaries on INEC’s timetable, taken part in recent by-elections in Nasarawa and Enugu states, and nominated candidates for the 2027 general elections.
Ogene went further. He said the 90-day statutory window to challenge the party’s registration closed long ago, and that INEC, the body empowered to register parties, was not the applicant. He called the matter forum shopping and said the order came on the day INEC was expected to open its portal and issue access codes for parties to upload candidates for 2027. “This is all about 2027, not the law,” he said, and he blamed the ruling APC. He said the NDC would pursue every legal remedy “right up to the Supreme Court.”
Peter Obi’s media office called the ruling “a hurdle, not a stop sign” in a statement signed by spokesman Idris Zekeri Jnr. It asked supporters and coalition partners to stay calm while lawyers review the judgment.
Sources
- JUST-IN: Court Sets Aside Order Compelling INEC To Register NDC, Orders Fresh Hearing
- Federal High Court Sets Aside Order Compelling INEC to Register NDC
- NDC Reps on Kogi judgement: It is judicial coup against democracy
