A Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi State, has nullified its earlier judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission to register the Nigeria Democratic Congress as a political party, ordering that the case be heard afresh with all interested parties joined.
The ruling effectively suspends the legal basis upon which the NDC was recognised, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
Delivering the ruling on Friday, Justice Isah Dashen held that the December 10, 2025 judgment was fundamentally defective because it was delivered without hearing all parties whose interests were directly affected.
The judge ruled that the Peace Movement Party was a necessary party to the suit and ought to have been joined before the court made any substantive pronouncement.
According to the court, the failure to hear all interested parties amounted to a constitutional defect, rendering the earlier judgment null and void.
Justice Dashen consequently restored the status quo that existed before the December 10, 2025 judgment and directed that the matter should commence afresh.
The court also held that material facts had been withheld during the earlier proceedings, a development it said justified setting aside the judgment.
The judge ordered that INEC, the Peace Movement Party and the Nigeria Democratic Congress be joined as parties in the fresh proceedings to ensure all issues in dispute are comprehensively determined.
Speaking after the ruling, counsel to the applicant, Chikezie Ekeocha, said the Peace Movement Party approached the court after discovering that the NDC’s registration was based on a logo the party had earlier submitted to INEC before the commencement of the original suit.
He said the court agreed that the party’s rights were affected by the earlier proceedings.
“The court has ordered all parties to return to the position they occupied before the judgment of December 10, 2025, and directed the claimants to join all necessary parties to ensure the issues in dispute are effectually and completely determined,” Ekeocha said.
He added that the implication of the ruling was that every action taken by INEC pursuant to the now-vacated judgment must be reversed.
According to him, the recognition of the NDC, the issuance of its certificate of registration, its inclusion in INEC’s records and any appearance on ballot papers arising from the earlier judgment must be withdrawn pending the final determination of the substantive suit.
Ekeocha, however, clarified that the court had not determined the merits of the dispute over the NDC’s registration.
He said the judgment merely reopened the matter by directing that all parties with interests in the case be heard before a fresh decision is reached.
The ruling returns the dispute over the registration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress to the Federal High Court for a fresh hearing, where all parties are expected to present their arguments before the court delivers a new judgment.
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