The appellate court in its judgement reversed the order of the Federal High Court that affirmed the decision of INEC to deregister the 74 political parties in Nigeria on the ground that the process did not follow due process.
In making the order, the Appeal Court declared that INEC’S actions were not in compliance with Section 225 (a) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Besides the Court held that the INEC did not give reasons for the deregistration of the political parties.
The Commission had said that the deregistered parties breached the requirements for registration, part of which was that they failed to win at least 25 per cent of votes cast in one state of the federation during the presidential election.
Citing Section 40 of the constitution, the appellate court reasoned that citizens are entitled to freedom of association and as such, the right conferred on a party cannot be taken without due process.
The appellate court further held that the political parties were not challenging the Act, but the process of their deregistration.