A three-judge panel found the Lokoja court’s deregistration order legally defective, ending months of uncertainty over the party’s status.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has nullified a Federal High Court judgment in Lokoja that had ordered the deregistration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), the party fielding Peter Obi as its 2027 presidential candidate.

A three-man appellate panel, led by Justice Mohammed Danjuma, with the judgment read by Justice Muslim Sule Hassan, ruled on Friday that the lower court’s decision was faulty.

How the deregistration order came about

In June, the Federal High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, set aside its own earlier judgment that had compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the NDC as a political party.

Presiding Judge Isah Dashen held that the original 10 December 2025 judgment had been delivered without hearing all necessary parties, rendering the proceedings constitutionally defective.

The June ruling followed an application by the Peace Movement Party (PMP), which argued it had a legal interest in the case, including matters connected with the use of a party symbol, and should have been joined as a party before the earlier judgment was delivered.

Dashen agreed, holding that PMP had established sufficient interest to be joined in the proceedings, and ruled that the omission rendered the entire process null and void, restoring the status quo pending determination of the substantive suit. The NDC subsequently appealed that decision.

What the appellate court decided

Ruling on Friday, the Court of Appeal set aside Dashen’s judgment and restored the NDC’s status as a validly registered political party. NDC National Leader Senator Henry Seriake Dickson announced the development in a statement on his X handle.

“Today, the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, has set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court, Lokoja, delivered by Justice Isah Dashen a few months ago, which purported to order the deregistration of our party, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC),” Dickson said.

NDC’s reaction

Dickson commended the appellate judges, saying their decision expanded multiparty democratic participation in Nigeria.

“We want to use this opportunity once again to commend the Nigerian judiciary, and in particular, Hon. Justice Danjuma and Hon. Justice Hassan, for upholding the integrity of the Nigerian judiciary and, by their decisions, expanding the sphere of multiparty democratic participation in Nigeria,” he said.

He described the earlier Lokoja ruling as a threat to the party’s constitutional right to participate in elections.

“We have said repeatedly that the NDC was set up to expand the frontier of multiparty democracy in Nigeria. Justice Dashen’s judgment a few months ago was an unexpected assault on our constitutional right to participate and an attempt to narrow the democratic space,” Dickson said.

“Happily, today, by the decision of the Court of Appeal, the Nigerian democratic space has been protected, and the NDC’s right to participate in all political activities as a registered political party has been upheld.”

Dickson recalled that the party received “several calls for sympathy, support and prayers” after the Lokoja ruling. “Today, our collective prayers have been answered.

The NDC continues to exist. Our registration remains valid and subsisting, and we and all our candidates will participate in all elections in 2027 and beyond, by the grace of God,” he said, urging party members to now focus on campaigning to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the polls.

The ruling clears the path for the NDC and its candidates, including Obi and running mate Rabiu Kwankwaso, to contest the January 2027 general elections as already reflected on INEC’s final list of presidential candidates.