A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow the Grassroot Initiative Party (GRIP) to complete its registration as a political party.
The order was delivered on Thursday by Binta Nyako, who directed INEC to grant the association access to its registration portal for 27 days starting from March 26 so that it can complete the registration process.
Justice Nyako held that INEC acted contrary to its own Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, 2022 when it shut the portal just three days after issuing an access code to the applicants.
According to the judge, the access code was meant to remain valid for 30 days, but the commission closed the portal before the period expired.
“I hereby order that the defendant (INEC) should open its portal for 27 days from today for the plaintiffs to complete its registration,” the judge ruled.
The court also dismissed INEC’s argument that the suit was incompetent and statute-barred because it was not filed within 14 days of the closure of the portal.
Justice Nyako held that the commission failed to provide evidence showing that it notified the applicants about the closure of the portal.
She explained that INEC’s failure to serve the required communication weakened its defence.
Officials of GRIP had earlier approached the court after the electoral commission allegedly shut the portal three days after issuing an access code meant to remain valid for 30 days.
The suit was filed by Nze Kanayo Chukwumezie and Mohammed Abas Kuti, who represented members of the association.
The case, filed on December 24, 2025, by their lawyer Jideofor Ukachukwu, asked the court to determine whether INEC acted lawfully by closing the portal before the 30-day period expired despite the payment of the ₦2 million administrative fee.
The applicants argued that the 30-day window formed part of the registration conditions contained in INEC’s guidelines and the user guide for the political party registration portal.
They urged the court to declare the closure of the portal on October 19, 2025, unlawful, noting that they still had 27 days remaining to upload the required documents.
Meanwhile, the court dismissed two separate suits filed against INEC by the Green Future Party (GFP) and the Liberation People’s Party (LPP).
In the case marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2791/2025, filed by GFP through its lawyer Kingdom Okere, the judge held that the applicants failed to meet the constitutional requirements for party registration.
Similarly, in another suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/46/2026, the court ruled that although LPP’s access code remained valid when the portal was closed, the party undermined its own case and was therefore not entitled to the reliefs it sought.
