ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Julius Abure-led faction of the Labour Party has praised the Court of Appeal for suspending the execution of a Federal High Court judgment that ordered the deregistration of five political parties, describing the decision as a triumph for democracy and adherence to the rule of law.
The appellate court on Tuesday halted the implementation of a ruling delivered by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress, Action Peoples Party, Action Alliance, Accord Party and Zenith Labour Party.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, the faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, criticised Justice Lifu’s judgment, accusing him of ignoring established legal principles and the hierarchy of courts in reaching his decision.
According to Ifoh, the appellate court acted appropriately by intervening in the matter.
“The Appeal Court has done the right thing. It is not proper for Justice Lifu to rush into making that judgment, especially on the eve of an Appeal Court sitting.
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“He ought to know that the appellate court has powers over the lower court. Again, he does not have the power, according to the hierarchy of the judiciary, to go into that judgment,” he said.
He further urged the National Judicial Council to investigate the circumstances surrounding the ruling.
“That is exactly what we are pointing out here. The National Judicial Council should look into this matter. It goes beyond pronouncing judgment. There has to be a reason why he jumped the gun. Funny enough, he was asked that very day whether he knew that this matter was before the Appeal Court, and he said he knew. So what prompted him to go into that judgment?
“As a party, we believe the stay of execution by the Appeal Court was in order. It should be allowed to look into that matter. There are a whole lot of things involved. Why allow political parties to sell forms, make presentations and bring people to contest before giving such a judgment? What do you want those people to do?” he added.
Ifoh argued that the consequences of the Federal High Court ruling went beyond the five affected parties, stressing that candidates had already emerged through recognised electoral processes while preparations for future elections were underway.
He maintained that the Labour Party had also suffered significantly from what he described as conflicting judicial decisions, insisting that previous judgments by Justice Lifu had adversely affected the party’s internal affairs.
“It must be noted that apart from the deregistration of ADC and some other political parties, we in the Labour Party are the worst hit by the judgment of Justice Peter Lifu.
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“We want to say that, as of now, the judgment of the Federal High Court negates and it is against all known principles of law. In any event, our only regret, however, is that this same judgment delivered by Justice Lifu was also affirmed by the Court of Appeal.
“We, however, believe that the Supreme Court will do justice to the matter and do the right thing, being the final court of redress. It is on this basis that I want to call on the courageous judges of the Supreme Court to rise to the occasion and steer our ship of judiciary out of where it is currently headed,” he said.
The controversy arose from a Federal High Court judgment directing INEC to deregister the five political parties over issues relating to constitutional and electoral compliance.
However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Tuesday suspended the execution of that judgment and strongly rebuked the conduct of the trial court.
In a unanimous ruling delivered by a three-member panel headed by Justice A.B. Mohammed, the appellate court described the lower court’s actions as a serious violation of judicial hierarchy, noting that Justice Lifu proceeded with the matter despite an earlier order restraining him from doing so.
The court held that the trial judge disregarded a May 22 order directing him to halt proceedings pending the determination of an appeal challenging his jurisdiction over the case.
The panel further characterised the action as one of the gravest forms of judicial misconduct, stressing that appellate courts have a constitutional duty to uphold discipline within the judiciary and preserve respect for the hierarchy of courts.
During proceedings, counsel for INEC, Haliru Mohammed, informed the appellate court that the commission was surprised by Justice Lifu’s decision to deliver the judgment despite the subsisting restraining order.
He said INEC only became aware of the ruling through media reports and had expected the trial court to comply with the directive of the Court of Appeal, which had intervened before the scheduled judgment date.