Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to generate and release a registration access code to the Chief Akin Ricketts-led leadership of the All Democratic Alliance (ADA), clearing the path for the political association's formal registration as a political party. Justice Peter Lifu, in a judgment delivered on Monday, June 29, 2026, gave INEC 72 hours to comply with the order and reopen its registration portal for one week to allow the Ricketts-led leadership to upload ADA's membership register and other required documents.
The court's ruling stemmed from a suit filed by Stephen Atabo on behalf of the Ricketts faction against INEC and one Umar Ardo. The plaintiffs argued that INEC had never properly issued them an access code despite their compliance with registration requirements and that the electoral body had instead handed the code to Ardo, who they said held no recognised position in the party. Justice Lifu found that Ardo was neither the party's protem national chairman nor its secretary and, on that basis, nullified all steps taken in his name, including any documents he had uploaded to the commission's portal.
Justice Lifu declared INEC's action in releasing the access code to Ardo as illegal, wrongful, null, and void, and voided all subsequent steps taken on the party's behalf using that code. The court also ordered INEC to reopen its portal for one week to allow the Ricketts-led leadership to upload ADA's membership register and other required documents. Although the plaintiffs had requested 96 hours for INEC to generate and release the access code, Justice Lifu granted only 72 hours.
The legal dispute began after INEC, in October 2025, revealed that ADA was among 14 pre-qualified associations that had applied to be registered as political parties and had completed the upload of all required information and documentation. Though the commission okayed the association and seven others for the next stage of the registration process, ADA approached the court alleging that its access code was wrongly released to Umar Ardo, who is neither its protem national chairman nor its secretary. The association urged the court to compel INEC to issue to the plaintiff the access code to enable the association to upload the necessary information and documents for its registration as a political party, and to declare that INEC was in violation of extant laws when it issued the access code to the second defendant, Ardo.
Beyond the access code dispute, the plaintiffs had also asked the court to order INEC to register ADA as a political party and issue it a certificate of registration, and to extend the commission's May 10 and May 30, 2026 deadlines for submitting the digital membership register and list of candidates, respectively. Justice Lifu granted the reliefs, faulting INEC for releasing the access code to Ardo and declaring the action illegal, wrongful, null, and void.
The ruling represents a significant legal victory for the Akin Ricketts-led leadership of the political association as it pushes for formal recognition as a political party ahead of future elections. The court's order effectively clears the coast for ADA's registration, which had been stalled by the access code dispute. With the 72-hour deadline now in place, INEC is expected to generate and release the access code to the recognised leadership of ADA, enabling the association to complete its registration process and position itself for participation in upcoming elections.
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