A bunch beneath the aegis of Civic Motion for Democracy, CAD, has filed a go well with on the Federal Excessive Court sitting in Owerri, demanding the quick elimination of the Motion Peoples Get together (APP) from the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC) register.
Addressing journalists after submitting the case with go well with quantity FHC/OW/CS/03/2026, the Govt Director of the group, Mazi Franklin Ngoforo, mentioned the authorized motion turned obligatory following findings that exposed that the APP continues to be within the INEC database regardless of being deregistered a very long time in the past.
He maintained that it will be an electoral misnomer if the APP is allowed to take part in any electoral train.
In accordance to him, the group is taking the court motion in defence of democracy and to defend the integrity of the nation’s electoral system, in addition to the sanctity of the Structure.
“We’re difficult the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee’s unlawful retention of the deregistered Motion Peoples Get together in its database of registered political events. This isn’t merely a authorized motion; it’s a battle for the soul of Nigerian democracy, and we now have taken the battle to the one enviornment the place fact, legislation and justice can prevail,” he mentioned.
Mazi Ngoforo additional said that the group is in search of 21 distinct reliefs from the court, together with declarations that the APP was lawfully deregistered on February 6, 2020, and that the declare by INEC of receiving a restraining court order to forestall the motion is fake and constitutes fraud.
The group can be demanding a perpetual injunction restraining the nation’s electoral umpire from recognising the APP and stopping it from taking part in any electoral exercise.
The group’s Govt Director emphatically mentioned the transfer just isn’t politically motivated however aimed strictly at defending constitutional governance and the rule of legislation.
“Civic Motion for Democracy is a non-partisan civil society organisation that has no affiliation with any political celebration and no real interest in who wins or loses elections, offered these elections are carried out with integrity and in accordance with the Structure,” Ngoforo added.
He mentioned the battle is for all lovers of democracy and that any particular person or political celebration opposing the motion is declaring assist for electoral fraud and institutional corruption.
“Now we have thrown down the gauntlet and drawn a line within the sand. We are saying to INEC, to the APP, and to those that consider they will subvert our Structure with impunity: not on our watch, not in our Nigeria, and never with no battle. The trail is not going to be straightforward, the opposition will likely be fierce, however we go ahead with confidence as a result of we now have fact, legislation and justice on our facet,” he asserted.
Ngoforo hinted that the intention of these behind the retention of the APP within the INEC register is to exploit a authorized loophole to nullify the 2027 basic elections, therefore the necessity to cease it now.
He identified that the celebration, pursuant to Sections 225 and 225A of the Structure and Part 94 of the Electoral Act, was deregistered, and that the Supreme Court in March 2022 affirmed its deregistration.
The group famous that it puzzled why INEC has been reluctant to obey the court order and known as on lovers of democracy to rise in its safety.
