An appeals court in Nigeria has heavily criticised a lower court judge for what it described as “the highest form of judicial impertinence” after he ordered the deregistration of five political parties.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja issued a stay of execution on Tuesday, suspending a Federal High Court judgement that had directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to de-list the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other parties.
In a unanimous decision, a three-member panel led by Justice A. B. Mohammed condemned Justice Peter Lifu for delivering his judgement despite a 22 May order instructing him to suspend all proceedings.
The panel described his conduct as a “brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution”.
Invoking a Supreme Court precedent, the panel stated that a judge who acts in such a manner “is unfit for the bench as it amounts to judicial rascality.”
The lower court had previously ruled that the ADC, Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party, and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) should be deregistered for failing to meet the constitutional requirements to exist and contest elections.
The electoral commission, INEC, supported the political parties’ bid to halt the ruling.
INEC’s lead counsel, Haliru Mohammed, told the panel that the commission was completely unaware the judgement was being delivered, only finding out through breaking news in the media.
Counsel for the ADC, Shuaibu Aruwa SAN, claimed that Justice Lifu had communicated the delivery of his judgement via WhatsApp—a disclosure that drew strong reactions from the appellate judges.
Mr Aruwa described the judge’s actions as an “invitation to anarchy” and urged the court to protect its integrity.
Lawyers for the other affected parties warned that the ruling risked triggering a major constitutional crisis ahead of critical by-elections scheduled across six states on 20 June.
Following Tuesday’s order, all five political parties will remain officially registered pending the final outcome of their appeals.
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