The All Democratic Alliance (ADA) has rejected the recent judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja over its leadership tussle, describing the ruling as an attempt to hand control of the association to individuals it says no longer belong to the group.
The association made its position known on Tuesday, a day after the court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to release the party registration access code to the Chief Akin Ricketts-led faction.
ADA said it has already directed its legal team to challenge the judgment at the Court of Appeal. The association also disclosed that it is seeking an immediate stay of execution to prevent the enforcement of the ruling.
According to ADA, the court’s decision, if implemented, could disrupt an already completed registration process and create confusion within the association’s leadership structure.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Leye Igbabo, the association argued that the judgment did not amount to a direct order for INEC to register ADA as a political party.
“For clarity, the Court did not order the Independent National Electoral Commission to register the All Democratic Alliance as a political party. Rather, the Court directed INEC to release the registration access code to Chief Akin Ricketts to recommence the registration process.
“The change in the leadership of the Association was effectively and formally communicated to INEC before now, and the Commission had acknowledged and deemed the change to have been effected accordingly.
“Consequently, the registration process has since been completed by the Prince Uche Secondus- and Dr Umar Ardo-led National Executive Committee,” the statement read.
ADA insisted that Ricketts and other promoters linked to his camp had already moved on politically and no longer had legitimate authority to act on behalf of the association.
The group argued that allowing such individuals to regain access to the registration process would amount to reversing decisions already taken and legitimising what it described as external interference.
The association further warned that enforcing the judgment would undermine its internal structure and hand control to people who are no longer active within the organisation.
“It is not only an abuse of process, but also vexatious and obnoxious. The effect of the judgment, if implemented, is to hand over the ADA to persons who have abandoned the Association,” it added.
Despite the legal setback, ADA expressed confidence that the appellate court would overturn the ruling. The association noted that its substantive appeal has already been scheduled for hearing.
The latest dispute follows Monday’s ruling by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja. The court directed INEC to generate and release the registration access code to the Akin Ricketts-led leadership within 72 hours.
Justice Lifu also ordered the electoral commission to reopen its registration portal for one week to allow the faction upload its membership register and other required documents.
In his ruling, the judge held that INEC acted unlawfully when it issued the registration access code to Dr Umar Ardo. The court ruled that Ardo was neither the recognised Protem National Chairman nor the Protem Secretary of the association at the time.
The court subsequently nullified every document and action linked to Ardo in the registration process.
