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A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to proceed with the registration of the All Democratic Alliance (ADA) and release its access code to the Akin Ricketts-led leadership of the political association.

In October 2025, INEC announced that ADA and seven other associations, out of the 14 pre-qualified seeking registration as political parties, had successfully completed the upload of all required information and documentation.

The commission said the next stage of the registration process for the eight associations would be the detailed assessment and verification of the information and documents they submitted.

The associations are Citizens Democratic Alliance (CDA), All Democratic Alliance (ADA), 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).

In a judgement delivered on Monday, Peter Lifu, the presiding judge, directed INEC to release the access code to ADA’s interim secretary within 72 hours.

After reviewing the submissions of all parties, the judge nullified all steps and actions taken on behalf of ADA by Umar Ardo.

The judge faulted the commission for issuing the access code to Ardo, whom he said was not the recognised acting secretary of the association.

Lifu declared INEC’s action “illegal, wrongful, null and void”.

The judge also ordered the commission to reopen its portal for one week to enable the plaintiff to upload the documents required for the registration process, including the party’s membership register.

The plaintiff, through Stephen Atabo, its counsel, sued INEC and Ardo, seeking a declaration that the electoral commission violated the law by issuing the access code to the second defendant.

The plaintiff argued that Ardo is neither the pro tem national chairman nor the pro tem national secretary of the association.

The suit further stated that the information on INEC’s portal differed from the details contained in the plaintiff’s letter of intent and urged the court to declare the information illegal, unlawful, null and void.

The plaintiff also sought an order directing INEC to release the access code to enable the association to upload the documents required for its registration as a political party.

The plaintiff also asked the court to compel INEC to register the association as a political party and issue it a certificate of registration.

Justice Lifu also directed INEC to extend the May 10, 2026, deadline for the submission of the party’s digital membership register and the May 30, 2026, deadline for the submission of the candidate list.

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The Nigerian Democratic Congress on Monday confirmed that it had filed a notice of appeal against the Federal High Court judgment that set aside its registration, assuring members and supporters that the party remained legally recognised and would soon serve the Independent National Electoral Commission with the court processes.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Osa Director, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, saying the party’s legal team successfully filed the appeal at the Court of Appeal in Lokoja, Kogi State.

“Yes, we succeeded in filing the appeal today. We are going to serve INEC very soon. Our legal team was in Lokoja, Kogi State, today,” he said.

Director dismissed reports suggesting that the party had been deregistered, insisting there was no cause for alarm.

“We are not in panic mode. Our candidates need not fear. The NDC is a registered party. This is still reflected on the portal of INEC,” he stated.

He also faulted media reports on the court judgment, arguing that the suit merely challenged the party’s logo and not its existence as a political party.

“The narrative in the media is not even right. The group only challenged the use of our logo in court. That does not mean we are deregistered.

“That is why we are thanking our members, supporters and Nigerians for their understanding and solidarity,” he added.

The appeal follows days of emergency strategy meetings involving the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi; his running mate, Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso; NDC National Leader, Seriake Dickson, members of the National Working Committee and other key stakeholders.

A senior party official had earlier told The PUNCH that the leadership held marathon meetings over the weekend to fine-tune its legal strategy before approaching the Court of Appeal.

The development comes after the Federal High Court in Lokoja set aside its earlier judgment directing INEC to register the NDC, a decision the party has described as a legal setback it is determined to overturn.

The party has maintained that the judgment does not amount to its deregistration and has reassured its candidates and supporters that it remains a legally recognised political platform pending the outcome of the appeal.

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The 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.

The court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu, equally ordered the electoral body to release its access code to the Akin Ricketts-led leadership of the association within 72 hours.

It will be recalled that INEC had, in October 2025, revealed that ADA was among 14 pre-qualified associations that applied to be registered as political parties, having completed the upload of all required information and documentation.

Though the commission okayed the association and seven others for the next stage of the registration process, ADA approached the court alleging that its access code was wrongly released to one Umar Ardo, who is neither its Pro-tem National Chairman nor its Secretary.

It urged the court to compel INEC to issue to the plaintiff the access code to enable the association to upload the necessary information and documents for the registration of ADA as a political party.

The association also prayed the court to declare that INEC was in violation of the extant laws when it issued the access code to the second defendant, Ardo.

More so, the plaintiff urged the court to declare that the information uploaded onto INEC’s portal by the wrong person — Ardo — on behalf of ADA was in violation of the extant laws, as it was at variance with the information in the plaintiff’s letter of intent, and should therefore be declared illegal, unlawful, null and void and of no effect.

The plaintiff asked the court to order INEC to register its association as a political party and to issue a certificate of registration to it, as well as an order directing INEC to extend the deadlines of May 10, 2026, and May 30, 2026, for the submission of its digital register of members and the submission of candidates, respectively, to the electoral body.

While granting the reliefs, Justice Lifu faulted INEC for releasing its access code to Ardo, declaring the action illegal, wrongful, null and void.

He ordered INEC to open its portal for a period of one week to enable the plaintiff to upload necessary documents, including its membership register, as required by law.

Justice Lifu nullified all actions previously taken on behalf of the association by Ardo.

Although the plaintiff, Ricketts, requested 96 hours for INEC to generate and hand him the access code, Justice Lifu granted only 72 hours.