By Emmanuel Thomas l Friday, Sept 18, 2026
ABUJA — In a significant legal victory for the opposition movement, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has set aside a judgment of the Federal High Court in Lokoja that previously threatened the legal status and registration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
In a split 2–1 majority decision delivered on Friday, the appellate court held that the lower court’s ruling on June 26, 2026—which effectively set aside an earlier ruling ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the party—amounted to a clear abuse of judicial power and process.
High Court Overstepped Jurisdiction, Majority Rules
Delivering the majority judgment, the two appellate justices held that a Federal High Court cannot legally sit on appeal over its own earlier judgment. The court noted that once a trial court delivers a final judgment, it becomes functus officio—meaning its authority over the matter has expired—and it lacks the statutory jurisdiction to review, vary, or reverse its own decision, except to correct minor clerical errors. Any subsequent challenge to such a ruling, the justices emphasized, must be pursued strictly at the Court of Appeal.
Addressing the core controversy surrounding the NDC’s official emblem, the court dismissed claims raised by an opposing group, the Peace Movement Party (PMP), which had alleged that the NDC adopted its logo. Justice Isah Dashen of the Federal High Court in Lokoja had previously relied on the PMP’s application to void the December 10, 2025 judgment that initially mandated INEC to register the NDC.
However, the Court of Appeal firmly rejected the PMP’s standing. The majority panel held that because the PMP is not a legally registered political party, it lacked the locus standi to institute the legal application in the first place. The court described the association as a “meddlesome interloper” and an “errant spoiler.”
Furthermore, the justices ruled that the PMP was merely an interested party rather than a necessary party to the original suit. Consequently, its non-inclusion in the legal proceedings that yielded the December 2025 judgment did not constitute a breach of its constitutional right to a fair hearing.
Dissenting View Highlights Statute of Limitations and Forum Shopping.
In a sharply contrasting dissenting judgment, Justice Okon Abang affirmed the June 26 decision of the trial court, ruling that the registration of the NDC ought to remain set aside.
Justice Abang argued that the trial court lacked the fundamental jurisdiction to entertain the NDC’s original lawsuit against INEC in 2025 because the suit was statute-barred.
According to his analysis, the NDC filed its action challenging INEC’s refusal of registration 53 days after the cause of action arose—far exceeding the strict 14-day limit stipulated by the Electoral Act for pre-election and administrative dispute filings following official correspondence from the electoral body.
Justice Abang also raised strong concerns regarding judicial venue selection, questioning why the NDC initiated proceedings in the Lokoja Division of the Federal High Court rather than in Abuja, where both INEC headquarters and the administrative organs of the political parties are located. He characterized the move as an act of deliberate “forum-shopping” intended to secure a favorable judicial outcome.
The legal battle dates back to December 10, 2025, when the Federal High Court in Lokoja ordered INEC to register the NDC following the commission’s initial refusal to recognize the political association.
Following that order, the Peace Movement Party (PMP) approached the same court, contending that the NDC’s registered logo infringed on its own identity. PMP argued that its exclusion from the initial suit rendered the judgment fundamentally defective due to a lack of fair hearing for necessary parties.
On June 26, 2026, Justice Isah Dashen yielded to PMP’s application, setting aside the December 2025 judgment, reverting the parties to their pre-December status quo, and ordering a fresh hearing of the matter with all parties joined.
The NDC subsequently filed an appeal, contending that the trial court acted outside its jurisdiction, had become functus officio, and that an unregistered political entity could not derail a validly subsisting judicial mandate.
With the Court of Appeal’s majority decision, the legal recognition of the Nigeria Democratic Congress as a duly registered political party stands restored, effectively nullifying the lower court’s order for fresh proceedings.