Tinubu’s AGF Seeks Deregistration of ADC and Four Others

2027 Election Watch, Breaking News, Politics

Tinubu’s AGF Seeks Deregistration of ADC and Four Others

Abuja court hearing could reshape Nigeria’s opposition map as AGF backs a push to deregister five parties over constitutional compliance.

Atlantic Post

April 30, 2026

4–6 minutes

ADC, Bola Tinubu, Federal High Court, INEC, Lateef Fagbemi, Political Parties

ABUJA, Nigeria – The political temperature in Abuja has risen again, this time over a suit that could alter the shape of Nigeria’s opposition politics before the 2027 general elections.

Court filings reported by multiple outlets show that the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, is asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission to deregister five political parties, including the African Democratic Congress, Accord, Action Peoples Party, Action Alliance and the Zenith Labour Party.

In those filings, the AGF argued that INEC would “continue to act in breach of its constitutional duty” if it keeps parties that allegedly failed to meet the law’s minimum standards.

The case is not a routine administrative dispute. It goes to the heart of how Nigeria defines a political party’s survival.

The plaintiffs, the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators, are seeking declarations that INEC must enforce constitutional benchmarks for registration, recognition and continued participation in elections.

Court reports show that the matter has already been set down for hearing on 5 May 2026 after Justice Peter Lifu granted leave to amend the originating summons so the affected parties could be properly joined.

The judge described the matter as “time-sensitive and of significant public importance”.

The legal backbone of the suit is Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, together with INEC’s own regulations and the Electoral Act 2022.

INEC’s political party guidelines state plainly that the Commission is empowered to “deregister any political party” that violates Section 225A, including where a party fails to win the prescribed number of seats or vote share in a general election.

The same guidelines say INEC may act after general elections and related petitions where a party fails to satisfy the constitutional conditions.

This is not an abstract power on paper. It has been tested in court before, and INEC has won.

PLAC’s legal review records that the Supreme Court upheld INEC’s deregistration of the National Unity Party in 2021 after the party challenged its removal, with the Commission saying it acted under Section 225A.

Another PLAC review notes that the Supreme Court later affirmed INEC’s deregistration of 22 political parties in March 2022.

In other words, the legal terrain already favours the idea that political parties must earn, and retain, their place on the register.

That makes the present suit especially combustible. If the court agrees with the plaintiffs, the result could be the formal removal of ADC, Accord, APP, AA and ZLP from the list of registered parties, at least if the facts and legal tests are found to support that outcome.

That would immediately narrow the field of smaller parties and could force a recalibration across the opposition landscape, especially because the court itself has already recognised the matter as urgent ahead of the 2027 cycle.

This is an inference from the court’s timetable and the number of parties involved, but it is a realistic one.

The case also revives a recurring Nigerian dilemma. On one side is the argument that democracy must remain open to association and political competition.

On the other is the argument that a bloated register of underperforming parties weakens accountability, clutters ballots and confuses voters.

The PLAC review of the 2021 Supreme Court decision captures that tension, noting both the constitutional challenge and the practical complaints about ballot complexity and electoral confusion after the 2019 general elections. That debate is now back in full force.

Fagbemi’s position, as reported in the filings, is that party association is not limitless. Tribune reports that the filing argued the right to associate “is not absolute” and must operate “within constitutional limits”.

That framing matters because it recasts the matter from partisan contestation into constitutional enforcement.

In simple terms, the AGF is not merely backing a lawsuit; he is endorsing the idea that the register of political parties must be policed as a matter of law, not sentiment.

For INEC, the case is awkward but unavoidable. The Commission’s 2022 political party guidelines already spell out a deregistration procedure, including notice, verification, examination of performance and publication of the outcome.

They also state that a party may be deregistered for failing to meet registration conditions, including poor electoral performance and weak compliance records.

If the court insists that those standards be enforced now, INEC may have little room to remain passive.

The wider political consequence is even more serious. ADC in particular has been in the spotlight in recent months because of internal struggles and repeated court battles, which have raised fresh questions about stability, leadership authority and future viability.

That context does not decide the deregistration case, but it gives the suit a sharper edge. A court battle over legal existence becomes far more dangerous when the parties involved are already internally fragile.

For now, the next decisive date is 5 May 2026. Until then, the case stands as another reminder that in Nigeria’s democracy, the courtroom is increasingly becoming the real battleground for party survival.

Whether the Abuja court backs the AGF’s push or resists it, the ruling is likely to echo far beyond the five parties named in the suit. It will speak to the future of opposition politics, INEC’s enforcement powers and the uneasy balance between constitutional order and political pluralism.