A Federal High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, has set aside its earlier judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) as a political party, ordering that the case be heard afresh.
Delivering the ruling on Friday, Justice Isah Dashen held that the December 10, 2025 judgment was fundamentally flawed because it was delivered without hearing all parties whose interests were directly affected by the case.
The court upheld an application filed by the Peace Movement Party (PMP), ruling that the party was a necessary party to the suit and should have been joined before the initial judgment was delivered.
Justice Dashen said the failure to hear all interested parties rendered the earlier decision constitutionally defective and legally unsustainable. He consequently declared the proceedings null and void and restored the status quo that existed before the December 10, 2025 judgment.
The judge also observed that material facts had been withheld during the earlier proceedings, describing the omission as sufficient grounds to vacate the judgment.
He ordered that the substantive suit begin afresh, with INEC, the Peace Movement Party, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress joined as parties to enable the court to fully determine the issues in dispute.
Speaking after the ruling, counsel to the applicant, C.S. Ekeocha, said the Peace Movement Party approached the court after discovering that the NDC’s registration was based on a logo the PMP had previously submitted to INEC before the commencement of the suit.
Ekeocha said the ruling effectively reverses all actions taken by INEC under the now-vacated judgment, including the recognition of the NDC, the issuance of its certificate of registration, its inclusion in the commission’s records, and any appearance on ballot papers, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
He, however, clarified that the court had not ruled on the merits of the NDC’s registration but had only set aside the earlier judgment to ensure that all affected parties are heard before a fresh decision is reached.
