A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the deregistration of five political parties, including the African Democratic Congress, over their alleged failure to meet constitutional requirements for continued registration.

Delivering judgment on Monday, Justice Peter Lifu directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to remove the affected parties from its register and bar them from participating in future elections, including the 2027 general elections.

The parties affected by the ruling are the ADC, Accord, Action Alliance, Action Peoples Party and Zenith Labour Party.

Justice Lifu issued the order after dismissing preliminary objections raised by the defendants and held that the parties failed to satisfy the constitutional threshold requiring political parties to demonstrate sufficient electoral performance.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, was filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators, which challenged the continued registration of the parties.

The group argued that the affected parties failed to meet constitutional requirements relating to electoral spread and performance, particularly the requirement to secure at least 25 per cent of votes in prescribed elections.

According to the plaintiff, the parties no longer met the standards required to retain their legal status and should therefore be removed from the electoral register.

The suit listed INEC as the first defendant and also joined the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation as a party to the proceedings.

In its ruling, the court agreed with the plaintiff’s arguments and held that the parties had not sufficiently countered the claims against them, paving the way for their deregistration.

The judgment effectively directs INEC to enforce the deregistration and prevent the affected parties from participating in subsequent electoral contests unless the ruling is overturned on appeal.