By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
The Court of Appeal sitting in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Friday, set aside the ruling of the Lokoja High Court that ordered the deregistration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
This good was made public in Abuja by the National Leader of NDC, Senator Seriake Henry Dickson through his social media handle which read in parts:
“Fellow Party Members and Nigerians,
Today, the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, has set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court, Lokoja, delivered by Justice Isah Dashen a few months ago, which purported to order the deregistration of our party, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
In a judgment delivered by the presiding Justice, Justice Mohammed Danjuma and read by Justice Hassan, the Court ruled in favour of allowing our appeal, which challenged the faulty ruling of the Federal High Court, Lokoja, and accordingly, set aside Justice Dashen’s judgment.
We want to use this opportunity once again to commend the Nigerian judiciary, and in particular, Hon. Justice Danjuma and Hon. Justice Hassan, for upholding the integrity of the Nigerian judiciary and, by their decisions, expanding the sphere of multiparty democratic participation in Nigeria.
We have said repeatedly that the NDC was set up to expand the frontier of multiparty democracy in Nigeria. Justice Dashen’s judgment a few months ago was an unexpected assault on our constitutional right to participate and an attempt to narrow the democratic space.
Happily, today, by the decision of the Court of Appeal, the Nigerian democratic space has been protected, and the NDC’s right to participate in all political activities as a registered political party has been upheld.
I congratulate all members and candidates of our great party, the NDC, and thank Nigerians for their prayers and support.
When the unexpected judgment of the Lokoja Federal High Court was delivered, we were bombarded with several calls for sympathy, support and prayers. Today, our collective prayers have been answered.
The NDC continues to exist. Our registration remains valid and subsisting, and we and all our candidates will participate in all elections in 2027 and beyond, by the grace of God.
Everyone should now focus on the campaigns, prepare for the elections, and focus on the task ahead to face the APC and defeat them at the polls.
A resort to arm-twisting, inducing or intimidating the judiciary will not work. We remain confident in the strength of our message, the commitment of our members, the viability of our candidates, and the support of Nigerians. With this conviction, we look forward to the forthcoming elections and are confident that the NDC will emerge victorious at the polls, by the grace of God.
The fight for Nigeria’s multiparty democracy continues and by the grace of God we will emerge victorious.
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