NDC Deregistration: Party Vows to Appeal Court Ruling, Insists It Remains Registered Party
By Missang AKPET
The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, says it has not been deregistered and will immediately challenge a Federal High Court ruling in Lokoja that set aside the December 2025 judgment compelling INEC to register the party.
In a statement signed by National Chairman, Sen. Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe on Friday, the NDC described the order by Hon. Justice Isah Dashen as “surprising” and an abuse of court process.
The court ruled on an application filed by the Peace Movement Party, PMP, an unregistered association. PMP argued it sought registration in 2015 with the “victory sign” as its symbol and was denied by INEC.
The NDC said PMP is “not a registered political party” and “not seeking registration now to participate in the current political process.”
The party recalled that after INEC refused to register it in December 2025, the Federal High Court upheld its constitutional right to freedom of association and ordered INEC to register it which INEC complied.
Since then, the NDC says it has held ward-to-national congresses, conventions, primaries, and fielded candidates for the just-concluded bye-elections in Nasarawa and Enugu states. It added that candidates for House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, Governorship, Presidential and Vice-Presidential positions have been nominated and are being submitted to INEC per its timetable.
On the Lokoja ruling, the NDC argued the court was “functus officio” after its final judgment, and that issues on symbols and colours had already been overruled with “no appeal against that judgment.”
“There was no order directing our deregistration. However, we are dissatisfied with the decision… and we have instructed our team of lawyers to immediately proceed to the Court of Appeal to challenge the jurisdiction and propriety of His Lordship’s order,” Zuwoghe said.
The party insisted all nominations remain valid and accused those who seek to shrink the democratic space of trying to use the judiciary to derail multi-party democracy ahead of 2027.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has also condemned the order to deregister the NDC. In a statement by National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the party called it “a setback for democracy” and “an asphyxiation of multiparty democracy.”
The PDP said the ruling is “particularly disturbing” after Nigerians “expended their resources to aspire to various elective offices under the platform of the NDC,” describing it as “an economic crime against Nigerians who invested in the party.”
The opposition party alleged the development “fits neatly into the playbook of the APC-led Federal Government,” which it accused of being “unwilling to allow the survival of a genuine opposition ahead of the 2027 general elections.”
PDP urged NDC to “vigorously challenge this order within the ambit of the law” and called on the Federal Government to “reduce the political temperature of the country in the interest of peace, stability, and the preservation of democracy.”
The NDC said it has been informed that Justice Dashen set aside the December 2025 decision, but maintains the party remains registered and lawful as it pursues an appeal.
INEC is yet to issue an official response to the Lokoja court order as of press time.
