Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD) and the 22 other parties approached the court to challenge their de-registration by INEC.
The Supreme Court of Nigeria is set to deliver a landmark judgment on the 23 political parties scrapped in 2020 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In its hearing today (Friday) in Abuja, the apex court will determine whether INEC's de-registration of the parties followed due process of law before the electoral body banned them from participating in elections.
The parties involved are Advanced Congress of Democrats, ACD; Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party, ANDP; All Blending Party, ABP; All Grand Alliance Party, AGAP; Alliance of Social Democrats, ACD; Change Advocacy Party, CAP; Democratic Peoples Congress, DPC; and Green Party of Nigeria, GPN.
Others include Masse Movement of Nigeria, MMN; Mega Party of Nigeria, MPN; New Generation Party of Nigeria, NGP; Nigeria For Democracy, NFD; Peoples Coalition Party, PCP; Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA; People For Democratic Change, PDC, and Young Democratic Party, YDP.
Also included are the Re-build Nigeria Party, RBNP; Save Nigeria Congress, SNC; Socialist Party of Nigeria, SPN; United Democratic Party, UDP; United Patriots, UP, and We the People Nigeria, WTPN.
The electoral body had, on February 6, 2020, de-registered 74 political parties for failing to win any political office in the last general election.
Dissatisfied by the ruling, the Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD) and the 22 other parties approached the court to challenge their de-registration by INEC.
In August of the same year, a Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja overturned a ruling by a lower court affirming the de-registration of 74 political parties by INEC.
However, INEC approached the Supreme Court over the Court of Appeal judgment reinstating the 23 deregistered political parties in Nigeria.
The judgement will be given today, Friday, March 25.