From Victor Osula, Abuja
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled that the right of an association to seek registration as a political party in Nigeria is not absolute, holding that prospective political parties must satisfy the requirements of the Constitution, the Electoral Act and applicable guidelines before they can be recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Justice James Omotosho gave the ruling in a judgement on a suit filed by Jyde Adelakun, a member of the All Allies Alliance (AAA), challenging INEC’s failure to register the association as a political party ahead of the 2027 general election.
Marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1049/2026, the suit sought to compel INEC to register AAA or recognise it as having been automatically registered by operation of law.
The plaintiff had argued that INEC failed to notify the association in writing of any non-compliance with the relevant provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral Act within the 90-day period prescribed under Section 75(4) of the Electoral Act 2022.
According to the plaintiff, the 90-day period expired on May 21, 2026, without INEC notifying AAA of any deficiency in its application.
He, therefore, asked the court to declare that AAA was statutorily deemed registered as a political party and should be included among political parties eligible to participate in the 2027 general election and other electoral processes.
The plaintiff also sought an order compelling INEC to immediately register or recognise AAA as a political party and a perpetual injunction restraining the commission from excluding, preventing or otherwise hindering its participation in the 2027 elections.
He further demanded ₦50 million in exemplary, general and aggravated damages for what he described as violations of the fundamental rights of himself and members of the association.
INEC opposed the suit, arguing that AAA had not fulfilled the requirements for registration as a political party.
The electoral commission contended that the association had failed to provide an address in Abuja as required by Section 222 of the Constitution and did not have a pro tem secretary.
INEC also argued that the subsequent enactment of the Electoral Act 2026 and changes to the 2027 election timetable had affected the validity of the plaintiff’s claim.
Justice Omotosho, however, rejected that aspect of INEC’s argument. The judge held that the law applicable to the dispute was the Electoral Act 2022 because that was the law in force when the cause of action arose.
He noted that there was no official timetable for the 2027 general election when AAA made its application and that INEC only announced its timetable later.
The commission initially fixed the Presidential and National Assembly elections for February 20, 2027, before subsequently revising the timetable and bringing the elections forward to January 16, 2027.
Justice Omotosho held that INEC could not rely on a timetable introduced after the application to defeat the applicant’s claim.
“The defendant having released its timetable after the plaintiff submitted an application to be registered as a political party cannot turn around to say that due to its revised timetable the application was made less than 12 months to the general elections”, the judge held.
He added that INEC could not take a step, reverse itself and subsequently rely on that reversal to the detriment of the applicant.
“This cannot be the position of the law. The defendant cannot take steps, retrace its steps and then expect to benefit from such action to the detriment of another.”
The court consequently held that the subsequent timetable did not invalidate AAA’s case and that the suit was properly before it.
The association, however, suffered a decisive setback when the court considered whether it had actually satisfied the requirements for registration.
Justice Omotosho held that the constitutional right to form or belong to a political association did not automatically entitle such an association to be registered as a political party.
“An association seeking party registration must meet the conditions prescribed by law before INEC can be compelled to recognise it”, the court declared, adding that INEC was justified in refusing to register AAA because the association had failed to satisfy the applicable requirements.
A key issue was the nature of the correspondence relied upon by AAA as its application for registration.
Justice Omotosho said the contents of the association’s letter to INEC “does not really strike me as a letter of intent to be registered as a political party.”
Rather, the judge said, the correspondence appeared to be a request for INEC’s guidelines and regulations for registering a political party.
The court further held that even if the letter were treated as a letter of intent, it still failed to meet the applicable guidelines.
“For the sake of argument, even if it is assumed that the letter is a letter of intent, it still falls short of the Guidelines”, the judge held.
The court consequently refused its request for an order compelling INEC to register or recognise it as a political party, as well as its demand that the commission include AAA among parties qualified to participate in the 2027 general election.
The ₦50 million damages claim and the requestfor a perpetual injunction against INEC were also not granted.
