Ahidjo Ibrahim Karlahi, a chieftain and director of the All Democratic Alliance (ADA), has filed a lawsuit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the registration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) as a political party.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1115/2026, was filed on June 2, 2026, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, with INEC as the first respondent and the NDC as the second respondent.
In the suit, Karlahi is asking the court to determine whether INEC is under obligation to strictly comply with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022, and its own guidelines in the registration of new political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He further wants the court to rule on whether INEC “gravely failed” in its duty by registering the NDC “in total disregard, neglect and outright disobedience” to these legal requirements.
Karlahi is praying the court to declare the registration of the NDC as “unconstitutional, wrongful, null and void” for non-compliance with relevant laws.
He also seeks:An order compelling the NDC to surrender its certificate of registration to be cancelled, revoked or withdrawn.
A perpetual injunction restraining INEC from recognising or listing the NDC as a political party.
A perpetual injunction stopping the NDC and its agents from parading or presenting itself as a registered political party in Nigeria.
In a statement after filing the suit, Karlahi said the NDC was not among the associations pre-qualified by INEC for the 2025 political party registration exercise and allegedly bypassed all mandatory steps in the process.
Background
In September 2025, INEC announced that 14 associations had been cleared for party registration.
The NDC was not on that list. By October 30, 2025, only eight associations, including the ADA, successfully uploaded required documents for the next stage.
On February 5, 2026, INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan stated that only two associations reached the final verification stage, and ultimately only the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) met all constitutional and legal requirements for registration.
However, the NDC was later registered by INEC following a subsisting court order from the Federal High Court in Lokoja.
Another ADA chieftain, Umar Ardo, had earlier criticised INEC’s action and stated that the association would appeal the Lokoja court judgment that ordered the registration of the NDC.
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