The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday threw out a suit filed against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) seeking the registration of the All Democratic Alliance (ADA) as a political party.
Papers News reports that the case was brought before the court by promoters of the party led by Umar Ardo. They asked the court to direct INEC to register ADA and also declare the group as a recognized political party under the Electoral Act 2022.
The plaintiffs argued that INEC failed to act on their application within the period allowed by law, and therefore, the association should be treated as duly registered.
Justice Emeka Nwite, while delivering judgment, ruled that the case was not properly filed and lacked reliable evidence to support the claims made by the plaintiffs.
The judge agreed with the objection raised by Chief Akin Ricketts and Aminu Ahmed, who were listed as second and third defendants in the suit. They had argued that the matter was brought before the court through the wrong legal process.
According to the court, the issues raised in the suit involved disputes over facts and allegations that required witnesses to appear before the court for questioning. Justice Nwite explained that such matters could not be handled through an originating summons.
He said the case should have been started through a writ of summons so that oral evidence could be presented and witnesses cross-examined before the court reached a decision.
Based on that finding, the judge struck out the suit and held that the wrong legal procedure used by the plaintiffs made the case incompetent.
Despite striking out the case on procedural grounds, the judge still went ahead to examine the main arguments raised by the plaintiffs in case the earlier ruling was found to be wrong.
On the main issue, the court held that the plaintiffs failed to prove their claim that Chief Ricketts had left ADA for the African Democratic Congress before the suit was filed.
The plaintiffs had relied on reports published by newspapers including ThisDay, Daily Post and Tribune to support their argument. However, the judge ruled that newspaper reports alone could not serve as proof that the claims contained in them were true.
Justice Nwite said publications only show that a story was reported and do not automatically confirm the truth of the information published.
The court also stated that the plaintiffs failed to present documents or other evidence showing that Ricketts officially joined the ADC. According to the judgment, there was no membership card, party register, payment record or any other material linking him to the party.
The judge further agreed with INEC that the association failed to meet some constitutional and electoral conditions required for political party registration.
He pointed to differences in the names of interim national officers submitted by the association to INEC and those contained in its earlier letter of intent. The court held that the plaintiffs could not properly explain the inconsistencies.
At the end of the ruling, Justice Nwite concluded that the plaintiffs did not present enough reliable evidence to support their claims and dismissed the case for lacking merit.
