A civic watchdog group, Civic Action for Democracy (CAD), has raised the alarm over what it describes as a dangerous breach of Nigeria’s constitutional order, dragging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the Federal High Court in Owerri over its continued recognition of the Action Peoples Party (APP).
According to CAD, APP was deregistered in 2020 and has remained legally defunct ever since — yet continues to appear on INEC’s official register, a situation the group says threatens the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking to journalists at the court premises, CAD’s Executive Director, Mazi Franklin Ngoforo, described the development as “a sustained fraud against the Nigerian people.”
“This is not about politics or party rivalry. It is about whether the rule of law still means anything in Nigeria,” Ngoforo said. “A deregistered party has no legal existence. Allowing it access to the ballot is an invitation to chaos.”
Ngoforo accused INEC of relying on what he called a “phantom court order” to justify APP’s continued recognition, noting that no such order has been produced in nearly six years.
He pointed out that the Supreme Court’s 2022 judgment affirming INEC’s deregistration powers was final and binding, making continued recognition of APP legally indefensible.
“What we are witnessing is an institutional contradiction — an electoral umpire defying both its own actions and the highest court in the land,” he said.
CAD further alleged that APP had participated in elections after its deregistration, describing such participation as illegal and incapable of conferring legitimacy.
The group warned that if APP is allowed to field candidates in the 2027 elections, the outcome could be catastrophic.
“You cannot undo a compromised election. You cannot reverse the damage after ballots are cast,” Ngoforo said. “This action is preventive. We are stopping a foreseeable disaster before it happens.”
He stressed that CAD has no affiliation with any political party and is acting solely in defence of constitutional governance, electoral integrity, and public accountability.
