Court Dismisses ADA Suit Challenging INEC Registration Decision.

reports that the case was instituted by promoters of the proposed party led by Umar Ardo, who asked the court to compel INEC to register the ADA and recognize it as a political party under the Electoral Act 2022.

The plaintiffs argued that INEC had failed to respond to their application within the timeframe provided by law and insisted that the association should therefore be deemed registered.

Delivering judgment, Justice Emeka Nwite held that the suit was incompetent, noting that it was not properly filed and was not supported by credible evidence.

The court agreed with preliminary objections raised by Chief Akin Ricketts and Aminu Ahmed, the second and third defendants, who argued that the matter was initiated through the wrong procedure.

Justice Nwite explained that the issues raised involved disputed facts that required oral evidence and witness examination, which cannot be resolved through an originating summons.

He ruled that the proper approach would have been a writ of summons, which would have allowed for cross-examination of witnesses.

On that basis, the court struck out the case for being procedurally defective.

However, the judge still proceeded to consider the merits of the case, in the event that the decision was appealed.

On the substantive claims, the court held that the plaintiffs failed to establish their allegation that Chief Ricketts had defected from ADA to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) before the suit was filed.

The plaintiffs had relied on newspaper reports from publications such as ThisDay, Daily Post, and Tribune, but the judge ruled that media reports alone do not constitute proof of facts contained in them.

Justice Nwite stated that such publications only show that an event was reported, not that the claims are necessarily true.

The court further noted that no documentary evidence—such as a party membership card, register, or payment record—was presented to prove Ricketts’ alleged membership of the ADC.

He also upheld INEC’s position that the ADA failed to satisfy certain constitutional and procedural requirements for party registration.

The judge pointed out inconsistencies in the names of interim party officials submitted to INEC compared with earlier correspondence from the association, adding that the plaintiffs failed to adequately explain the discrepancies.

In conclusion, Justice Nwite held that the applicants did not provide sufficient credible evidence to support their claims and dismissed the suit for lacking merit.