Africa Press-Nigeria:<\/p>\n
A Federal High Court in Abuja has upheld the decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to de-register the Democratic People\u2019s Party, (DPP) and Reform and Advancement Party (RAP).<\/p>\n
Both parties are among some political parties de-registered some weeks ago by INEC on the grounds that they failed the constitutional requirement to retain their status as political parties.<\/p>\n
In two judgments on Wednesday, Justice Evelyn Maha held that INEC possesses the requisite powers under the Constitution to de-register a political party that failed to meet the requirements in Section 225 (a) of the 1999 Constitution.<\/p>\n
The judgements were on the suits by the DPP and RAP. The judge dismissed both suits for lacking in merit.<\/p>\n
Justice Maha was of the view that the plaintiffs failed to establish why they should continue to exist as political parties, having failed to secure any seat in previous elections.<\/p>\n
She noted that the two de-registered parties did not, in their pleadings, deny the fact that they were unable to meet the required statutory benchmark contained in Section 225 of the Constitution.<\/p>\n
The judge held that INEC has a binding obligation to act in accordance with express provisions of the Constitution, and that it (INEC) did not act ultra-vires its powers by withdrawing the registration of the plaintiffs for their non-performance in past elections.<\/p>\n
The judge said: \u201cSection 225 provides the law guiding the existence of political parties in Nigeria. There is no evidence that the defendant unlawfully re-registered the 3rd plaintiff.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the use of the word \u201cshall\u201d in Section 225 of the Constitution placed a mandatory responsibility on INEC to de-register political parties that failed to meet the constitutional requirement.<\/p>\n
Reacting to the court\u2019s decision, lawyer to RAP, Okere Kingdom said his client would appeal the judgment.<\/p>\n
Kingdom contended that the trial court misunderstood the case it brought before it for adjudication.<\/p>\n
Africa Press-Nigeria: A Federal High Court in Abuja has upheld the decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to de-register the Democratic People\u2019s Party, (DPP) and Reform and Advancement Party (RAP). Both parties are among some political parties de-registered some weeks ago by INEC on the grounds that they failed the constitutional requirement to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":10912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[1510,251],"class_list":["post-27708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-dpp","tag-inec"],"yoast_head":"\n