The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Monday overruled itself in the case of deregistration of 22 political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a very rare occurrence, the appellate Court delivered a conflicting judgment by ordering INEC to reinstate the 22 deregistered parties when the same Court had earlier in the month in the case of National Unity Party upheld and validated the power of INEC to deregister the Parties.
Monday’s ruling now threatens the conduct of the Edo and Ondo governorship election which has been fixed for the 19th of September and 10th October, 2020 respectively. It would be recalled that the Deregistered parties were not included in the parties cleared for the election.
Though the Court upheld the power of INEC to deregister parties in line with Section 225 of the Constitution, it went further to say that INEC needed to prove that it complied with the procedure outlined. However, it was gathered that the appeal filed by the deregistered Parties is that the political parties did not challenge the procedure INEC adopted but rather the power of INEC to deregister them.
Sources at the INEC said the Commission will appeal against the judgment to the Supreme Court even as some of the political party Chairmen have also indicated interest in appealing against the aspects of the appeal judgment which did not go their way. The Supreme Court will therefore be required to rule on the matter so that INEC can know one way or the other how to proceed with their preparations.
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