Fresh leadership crisis has engulfed the All Democratic Alliance (ADA) following a Federal High Court judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to release the party registration access code to a faction led by Chief Akin Ricketts.
The association has rejected the court’s decision and vowed to challenge it at the Court of Appeal, insisting that the judgment seeks to hand over the party’s affairs to individuals who are no longer members of the organisation.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Leye Igbabo, the ADA said it had instructed its legal team to file a notice of appeal and an application for a stay of execution to prevent the implementation of the ruling.
The association argued that Ricketts and some of the promoters who instituted the suit had since left the ADA for the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and therefore lacked the legal authority to represent or control the association.
According to the statement, the court did not order INEC to register the ADA as a political party but merely directed the electoral commission to issue the registration access code to the Ricketts-led faction to resume the registration process.
The association maintained that changes in its leadership had long been communicated to INEC, which it said acknowledged and recognised the new leadership.
It added that the registration process had already been concluded under the National Executive Committee led by Prince Uche Secondus and Dr. Umar Ardo, making any attempt to restart the process unnecessary.
The group warned that implementing the judgment would effectively impose an external leadership on the association and reverse a process it described as already completed.
It further described the ruling as an abuse of judicial process and expressed confidence that the Court of Appeal would overturn the decision.
The latest dispute follows Monday’s judgment by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, who directed INEC to generate and release the registration access code to the Ricketts-led leadership within 72 hours.
The court also ordered the electoral commission to reopen its registration portal for one week to enable the faction upload its membership register and other statutory documents required for party registration.
Justice Lifu held that INEC acted unlawfully by issuing the registration access code to Dr. Umar Ardo, ruling that he was neither the recognised Protem National Chairman nor the Protem Secretary of the association.
The court consequently nullified all actions and documents submitted by Ardo in connection with the registration process.
The suit was instituted after the Ricketts-led faction accused INEC of recognising Ardo’s leadership and denying it access to the registration portal needed to complete the party’s registration in line with the Electoral Act and the commission’s guidelines.