Human rights activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has condemned the court-ordered deregistration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), describing the development as a coordinated assault on democracy and Nigerians’ constitutional right to political participation.
Sowore made his position known on Friday while reacting to the Federal High Court ruling that nullified an earlier order directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the party.
The activist accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of intensifying what he described as a deliberate campaign to shrink the democratic space, weaken opposition forces and suppress alternative political voices.
“The coordinated assault on Nigerians’ right to political participation under Tinubu’s era of morontocracy is now complete with the court-ordered deregistration of the NDC,” Sowore declared.
He insisted that the development represents a direct attack on the foundations of constitutional democracy and warned that attempts to stifle political plurality would ultimately fail.
“I totally condemn this assault on democracy. Like every other act of repression by this regime, it will not stand,” he stated.
Sowore has repeatedly accused the Tinubu administration of undermining democratic institutions, weaponising state structures against critics and dissenters, and fostering an atmosphere of political intimidation that threatens the country’s multi-party system.
The latest controversy followed a ruling by the Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi State, which vacated its earlier judgment compelling INEC to register the NDC as a political party, effectively nullifying the party’s registration pending a fresh hearing on the substantive matter.
Justice Isah Dashen, who delivered the judgment on Friday, held that the previous decision delivered on December 10, 2025, was fundamentally defective because it was reached without hearing all parties whose interests were directly affected by the case.
The court ruled that the Peace Movement Party (PMP), which sought to overturn the judgment, was a necessary party to the proceedings and ought to have been joined before any substantive determination was made.
According to the judge, the failure to hear all interested parties constituted a constitutional defect that rendered the earlier judgment null and void.
Justice Dashen consequently ordered that the status quo be restored to what it was before the December ruling, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The court further held that material facts were allegedly withheld during the earlier proceedings, providing additional grounds for setting aside the judgment.
He subsequently directed that the matter should commence afresh, with INEC, the Peace Movement Party and the Nigeria Democratic Congress joined as parties in the new proceedings.
The development has sparked fresh debate over the state of Nigeria’s democracy and the independence of institutions charged with safeguarding political participation and electoral competition.
For Sowore and other opposition figures, the court’s decision is not merely a legal setback but part of what they describe as a broader pattern of political repression aimed at consolidating power and narrowing the space for dissenting voices ahead of future elections.
Political analysts have equally warned that persistent legal battles over the registration and deregistration of political parties could erode public confidence in democratic institutions and weaken the country’s multi-party system.
As the controversy unfolds, the NDC’s political future now rests on the outcome of fresh court proceedings, while questions continue to mount over the protection of constitutional freedoms and the right of Nigerians to organise and participate freely in the nation’s political process.