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A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the All Democratic Alliance (ADA) as a political party and release its registration access code to the association’s recognised leadership within 72 hours.
In a judgment delivered on Monday, Justice Peter Lifu directed INEC to issue the access code to the interim secretary of the association led by Akin Ricketts, describing the commission’s earlier decision to issue the code to Umar Ardo as unlawful.
The court nullified all actions taken on behalf of ADA by Ardo, ruling that he was neither the recognised acting secretary nor authorised to act for the association.
Justice Lifu declared INEC’s issuance of the access code to Ardo “illegal, wrongful, null and void.”
The court further ordered INEC to reopen its registration portal for one week to enable ADA’s recognised leadership to upload all outstanding documents required for registration, including the party’s digital membership register.
The suit was filed by the association through its counsel, Stephen Atabo, who argued that INEC violated the law by granting access to an individual not recognised by the association’s leadership.
The plaintiff maintained that the information uploaded on INEC’s portal differed from the details contained in the association’s original letter of intent and asked the court to declare the submissions invalid.
In addition to directing INEC to release the access code, the court ordered the electoral commission to proceed with ADA’s registration as a political party upon compliance with all legal requirements and to issue it a certificate of registration.
Justice Lifu also extended the deadlines earlier set by INEC, directing the commission to allow fresh submission of the party’s digital membership register and candidate list.
The ruling follows INEC’s announcement in October 2025 that ADA was among eight political associations that had successfully completed the initial stage of the registration process after uploading the required documents.
The other associations include the Citizens Democratic Alliance (CDA), Abundance Social Party (ASP), African Alliance Party (AAP), Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA), Green Future Party (GFP), National Democratic Party (NDP) and Peoples Freedom Party (PFP).
