The African Democratic Congress (ADC) says it will challenge the Federal High Court judgment ordering its deregistration, insisting that it remains confident in the judiciary despite what it described as a politically motivated ruling.
Bolaji Abdullahi, national publicity secretary of the party, disclosed this during an appearance on Prime Time, an Arise Television programme, on Monday.
A Federal High Court in Abuja had earlier ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC and four other political parties over alleged failure to meet constitutional requirements for continued registration.
Reacting to the judgment, Abdullahi said the party would immediately approach the Court of Appeal.
“I can assure you by tomorrow morning we’ll be in the Court of Appeal,” he said.
The ADC spokesman said the party was not intimidated by the ruling and would continue its political activities.
“ADC is a party that has been birthed, as it were, in adversity. So we are used to this,” he said.
“We are not distracted. It is in spite of this that we have built a formidable political party.”
ADC PRIMARIES
Abdullahi also defended the party’s recently concluded primaries, describing them as one of the most ambitious internal democratic exercises in Nigeria’s political history.
“What we did with our primaries, no other political party had done it in the history of Nigeria,” he said.
“It may not be perfect, but we did it. So we are proud.”
He maintained that the party would resist any attempt to undermine it through legal or political means.
“ADC will not be intimidated by this,” he said.
“We are ADC. We don’t cower before dictatorship. We don’t bow to this kind of shenanigans.”
When reminded that the party must obey court decisions, Abdullahi said the ADC remained committed to the rule of law and had confidence in the judiciary as an institution.
“We are a law-abiding party and we still have faith in the institution of the judiciary, regardless of what individual judges are doing,” he said.
“And that’s why we are saying justice must be done.”
JUDGE ACTED FOR POLITICAL REASONS
The former minister of youth and sports, however, accused Justice Peter Lifu, who delivered the ruling, of acting for political reasons rather than in the interest of justice.
“In this case, it is not about justice,” he said.
“What Justice Lifu did today is not about justice; it’s politics.”
Abdullahi also reiterated allegations that individuals linked to the federal government were behind the suit seeking the party’s deregistration.
“The individual championing the case works in government,” he said.
“The attorney-general and minister of justice, who is a defendant in this case, suddenly woke up a few days ago and became a plaintiff in the same case.”
“What absurdity. Can you imagine any other country where this could have happened?”
The ADC has consistently maintained that there is no constitutional basis for its deregistration and has vowed to exhaust all legal avenues to overturn the judgment.
