Court of Appeal Stays Deregistration of ADC, Four Other Parties, Says Trial Judge Acted With Judicial Impertinence

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has stayed the execution of a Federal High Court judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties. 

A three-member panel led by Justice Abba Mohammed held in a unanimous ruling on Tuesday that Justice Peter Lifu acted in disregard of an earlier order of the appellate court when he proceeded to deliver the judgment. 

The panel said the lower court had been directed on May 22 to stay proceedings in the matter pending the determination of appeals filed before the court of appeal, but the judge proceeded with the case despite being aware of the subsisting order, an action the appellate court described as a violation of the judicial hierarchy and an affront to the authority of the appellate court. 

Justice Mohammed stated that the decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of the court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of courts and the 1999 Constitution, and the court has the duty to invoke its powers to ensure that its orders are obeyed. 

The appellate court granted the application for stay of execution, stating that proceeding with the judgment in the face of a stay order amounted to the highest form of judicial impertinence, and fixed June 25 for the hearing of the appeals.

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