The Federal High Court in Abuja has thrown out a lawsuit aimed at compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the All Democratic Alliance (ADA) as a political party ahead of future elections.
In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, Justice Emeka Nwite dismissed the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2788/2025, describing it as incompetent and lacking credible evidence.
The plaintiffs, led by Umar Ardo, had argued that the association should be “deemed registered” under the Electoral Act because INEC allegedly failed to respond to their application within the required timeframe.
However, Justice Nwite upheld a preliminary objection, ruling that the plaintiffs used the wrong legal procedure.
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He noted that because the case involved allegations of fraud and disputed facts, it should have been filed as a writ of summons to allow for witnesses to be cross-examined.
“The matter is instituted by an improper procedure and thereby incompetent,” the judge held, officially striking out the suit.
Even when looking at the merits of the case, the judge found the plaintiffs’ arguments weak.
A major part of their case relied on newspaper reports from ThisDay, Daily Post, and Tribune to prove that a key figure, Chief Akin Ricketts, had defected to another party.
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The judge rejected this, stating that online news stories are not enough to prove a claim is true in court.
“Any person may author a report, print a story or circulate a rumour through a publication, but this does not imbue the report with sanctity of truth,” Justice Nwite stated.
The court further noted that the plaintiffs failed to provide membership cards or records to prove the defection and found inconsistencies in the names of the interim officers submitted to INEC.
“In sum, I am of the view, and I so hold, that the case of the plaintiffs is lacking in merit and not supported by credible evidence and it is hereby dismissed,” the judge concluded.
