BREAKING: Certified True Copy of Court Judgment Deregistering NDC Emerges [PHOTOS]

The Certified True Copy of the Federal High Court judgment ordering the deregistration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress has emerged.

The ruling, delivered by Presiding Judge Hon. Justice Isa H. Dashen at the Lokoja Judicial Division, effectively sets aside a December 10, 2025 judgment that had previously compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission to register the party.

According to the court ruling, the prior judgment was nullified because it affected the legal rights of the Peace Movement Party, which claimed ownership of the logo used by the NDC but was never joined as a party to the original lawsuit.

Following the development, INEC is now expected to remove the NDC from its roster of recognized political parties.

POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, on Saturday stated that the commission is waiting to obtain the official paperwork before finalizing its response.

“We have applied for the Certified True Copy of the judgment. Until we receive it, we cannot be in a position to comment on it. However, the position that existed before the December 10, 2025 judgment was that INEC rejected NDC’s letter of intent to be registered as a political party,” Haruna explained.

This newspaper already reported that the NDC has already been denied the portal access codes needed to upload its candidate list for the 2027 general elections. This digital lockout poses a severe threat to the political ambitions of former 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi and former Kano Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, both of whom were recently ratified as the NDC’s presidential and vice-presidential flagbearers, alongside numerous high-profile defectors who aligned with them.

The crisis hits the party at a critical juncture, as INEC recently shifted the portal access release date from June 26 to Monday, June 29, to streamline submissions for eligible parties.

Under the current electoral timetable, presidential and National Assembly candidates face a strict deadline to upload their nomination forms between June 27 and July 11, 2026, while the window for governorship and state assembly candidates runs from July 18 to August 8, 2026.

In response to the portal denial, the National Publicity Secretary of the NDC, Osa Director, confirmed that their efforts to secure the necessary credentials were unsuccessful.

“We approached INEC to collect the access code to upload the names of our candidates to the INEC portal. They told us that they will get back to us,” Director said.

Revealing the party move, Director stated, “We will go back there by tomorrow. I believe by tomorrow we must have filed a stay of execution in court”.