The Court of Appeal in Abuja has set aside a Federal High Court judgment in Lokoja, Kogi State, which had effectively voided the registration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) as a political party.
In a split 2-1 decision, the three-member appellate panel upheld the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) recognition of the NDC and faulted the lower court for revisiting its earlier judgment that had ordered the party’s registration.
Justices Mohammed Danjuma and Muslim Sule Hassan formed the majority, while Justice Okon Abang dissented and upheld the position of the Federal High Court.
The majority held that the Federal High Court had improperly exercised its powers by effectively sitting on appeal over its own earlier judgment of December 10, 2025, which directed INEC to register the NDC.
The dispute followed an application by the Peace Movement Party (PMP), which claimed an interest in the NDC’s logo and argued that it should have been joined in the original proceedings.
The Lokoja court, presided over by Justice Isah Dashen, had accepted the argument and set aside its earlier order, directing that the matter be reheard with the relevant parties joined.
The NDC subsequently appealed the decision, arguing that the Federal High Court could not sit on appeal over its own final judgment.
In the majority ruling, the Court of Appeal also rejected the contention concerning the NDC’s logo and held that the PMP was not a registered political party recognised by law and could not, on that basis, have been treated as a necessary party in the original suit.
Justice Abang, in his dissenting judgment, disagreed with the majority and would have upheld the Federal High Court’s decision. He also raised issues concerning the timeliness and competence of the NDC’s appeal and agreed with the lower court’s position on the PMP’s interest in the disputed logo.
The Court of Appeal’s majority decision restores the NDC’s recognition at the appellate level and reverses the immediate effect of the Lokoja judgment.
