A Federal High Court in Lokoja has set aside its own December 2025 judgment that compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission to register the Nigeria Democratic Congress, throwing the party’s legal status into doubt and returning the matter to court for a fresh hearing.
Delivering the ruling on Friday in Suit No. FHC/LKJ/CS/49/2025, Justice Isah Dashen held that the earlier judgment, handed down on December 10, 2025, had been reached without hearing from the Peace Movement Party, whose interests it directly affected. The PMP claims ownership of the logo the NDC presented to the commission as part of its registration papers.
The judge ruled that leaving the PMP out of the original proceedings amounted to a denial of fair hearing and rendered the earlier judgment invalid. He also noted that certain material facts had not been placed before the court when it first decided the case. On that basis, he ordered that the dispute begin afresh, with INEC, the NDC and the PMP all joined as parties.
Counsel to the PMP, Chikezie Ekeocha, said his client went to court after discovering that the logo behind the NDC’s registration closely resembled one the PMP had submitted to INEC before the original suit was even filed. According to him, the court accepted that the party’s rights had been affected and consequently vacated the judgment, directing every party to return to the position it occupied before December 10 and ordering the claimants to join all necessary parties so the issues could be settled completely.
Ekeocha said the practical effect was that every step INEC took in compliance with the now-vacated judgment stood reversed. He listed the NDC’s recognition, its certificate of registration, its entry in INEC’s records and any appearance on ballot papers as actions that must be withdrawn while the substantive case is determined.
He stressed, however, that the underlying dispute had not been decided. The court, he explained, had simply set its previous judgment aside and directed that the affected party be joined so all sides could be heard before a fresh decision is reached. He rejected suggestions that the ruling merely ordered parties to maintain the status quo, insisting it specifically required a restoration of the position that existed before the December judgment.
The NDC has faulted the outcome. Its national chairman, Zuwoghe, recalled that the party was registered after suing INEC in December 2025 and said it had long moved past that stage, having registered members, held congresses from ward to national level, conducted conventions and concluded primaries in line with the commission’s timetable. He said the party had taken part in INEC activities without obstruction and had fielded candidates in the recent by-elections in Nasarawa and Enugu states.
The chairman argued that the PMP was unknown to the NDC and was not itself a registered political party, and contended that the court, having delivered a final judgment in the original suit against INEC, had become functus officio. He maintained that questions about associations seeking to use the same symbol and colours had already been addressed in the earlier proceedings, where the court overruled INEC on the point without challenge.
As of the time of the ruling, INEC had not publicly responded. The case now returns to the Federal High Court in Lokoja, where, once the PMP and any other affected parties are formally joined, the court will hear evidence and arguments from all sides before deciding whether the NDC is entitled to registration.
