The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) deregistration of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP) has been affirmed by the Supreme Court.

The court dismissed a lawsuit brought by the party and its founder, Ambrose Albert Owuru, challenging the legality of INEC’s action.

In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice John Inyang Okoro, the court referred to previous judgments affirming INEC’s power to deregister parties that fail to meet constitutional requirements in previous elections.

During the proceedings, HDP and Owuru attempted to convince the court that the deregistration occurred while a suit was pending against INEC. They pleaded for the court to apply the doctrine of Liz Pendes to save the party, but their pleas were not considered.

Justice Okoro directed the counsel to familiarize themselves with previous decisions and orders of the court regarding INEC’s power to deregister parties that violate the 1999 Constitution.

Realizing that they were unlikely to succeed, the appellants’ lawyer withdrew the suit to avoid further complications.

Justice Okoro cautioned lawyers against bringing frivolous and vexatious cases before the court, advising them to help their clients face reality and refrain from burdening the courts with unnecessary matters.

INEC deregistered 74 parties in February 2019 for failing to meet the criteria outlined in the 1999 Constitution. Some of the parties jointly filed a suit seeking a determination of whether INEC had the constitutional power to deregister them.

The Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed the suit in June 2020, ruling in favor of INEC. However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja overturned the judgment on August 10, 2020, stating that INEC’s action was taken while a case involving the political parties was still pending.

The Court of Appeal held that INEC acted arbitrarily and denied the parties fair hearing, ordering that the parties be relisted as political parties in the country.

Unsatisfied with the decision, INEC appealed to the Supreme Court. In its judgment, the Supreme Court reinstated the judgment of the Federal High Court, stating that the Court of Appeal raised the issue of fair hearing on its own without hearing from all parties involved.

Section 225(a) of the Nigerian Constitution stipulates that a party can be deregistered if it fails to meet certain requirements, such as winning at least 25% of votes in one state in a presidential election or one local government in a governorship election.

The affected parties include the Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD), Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP), All Blending Party (ABP), All Grand Alliance Party (AGAP), Alliance of Social Democrats (ASD), Change Advocacy Party (CAP), Democratic People’s Congress (DPC), Green Party of Nigeria (GPN), Masses Movement of Nigeria (MMN), Mega Party of Nigeria (MPN), New Generation Party of Nigeria (NGPA), Nigeria For Democracy (NFD), People’s Coalition Party (PCP), Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), People for Democratic Change (PDC), Young Democratic Party (YDP), Re-Build Nigeria Party (RBNP), Save Nigeria Congress (SNC), Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN), United Democratic Party (UDP), United Patriots (UP), and We The People of Nigeria (WTPN).