The Accord Party (AP) has hit back at moves to deregister it, insisting it fully meets Nigeria’s constitutional requirements and challenging INEC and its opponents to prove otherwise.
In a strongly worded statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Joseph Omorogbe, the party, which holds the distinction of being the ruling party in Osun State, pushed back vigorously against a legal campaign by a group of former lawmakers seeking its deregistration, while also taking a direct swipe at the country’s most senior law officer for what it described as a deeply partisan intervention.
At the heart of the controversy is a provision in Nigeria’s electoral laws requiring political parties to win at least one seat in a general election or face deregistration by INEC.
Following the 2023 general elections, a coalition of politicians operating under the umbrella of former lawmakers filed a suit in court seeking to have Accord and a number of other parties removed from the electoral register, alleging they failed to meet this threshold.
It is a move Accord has dismissed with barely concealed contempt.
“A public show of ignorance,” the party called it, adding that those pushing for its removal had “embarked on a mission impossible”—strong language that signals the party has no intention of going quietly.
Central to Accord’s counter-argument is what it describes as a clear and documented electoral record that satisfies the constitutional requirement.
The party points first to the April 2023 Imo State House of Assembly election in Ideato South, where its candidate, Vitalis Azodo, was issued a Certificate of Return on 19th April 2023, evidence, the party argues, that it did in fact win a seat in the election cycle in question.
The fact that a tribunal subsequently nullified that election, the party implies, should not be held against it as though it had never won at all.
More recently, and perhaps more decisively, Accord highlights two councillorship victories in Jigawa State. In an election conducted by the Jigawa State Independent Electoral Commission (JSIEC) on 5th October 2024, Zahairu Usman won the Ajaura Ward Councillorship in Taura Local Government Area, while Isa Alhaji clinched the Kanwa Ward Councillorship in Jahun Local Government Area.
Both men were issued Certificates of Return by JSIEC Chairman Auwalu Mohammed Harbo the following day, a paper trail the party clearly intends to lean on heavily in any legal proceedings.
“It is evident that our great party, Accord, met this clear provision of the constitution and was thus exempted and excluded from de-registration by the electoral umpire,” the statement declared.
Perhaps the sharpest edge of Accord’s statement was reserved for the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, who finds himself named as a defendant in a suit the party filed to resist the deregistration efforts, yet who, according to Accord, has aligned himself with those seeking the party’s removal.
The party’s statement did not mince words. It was described as “extremely partisan and unfortunate” that the nation’s foremost legal officer had not taken the time to review the court processes or verify with the JSIEC the true state of Accord’s electoral victories in Jigawa before throwing his weight behind deregistration moves.
The allegation is a serious one. For a sitting attorney general to be accused of partisan conduct in a matter touching on the constitutional rights of a registered political party raises significant questions not only about the integrity of the process but also about whether the machinery of state is being deployed against a party that has, by its own account, done nothing to warrant removal from the register.
The AGF’s office had not publicly responded to the allegations as of the time of this report.
The Accord Party‘s fight is not an isolated one. Across Nigeria’s fragmented multi-party landscape, smaller parties have long complained that electoral laws and their enforcement disproportionately favor the dominant parties, squeezing out political alternatives under the guise of maintaining a credible register.
Whether or not Accord ultimately prevails in court, its public resistance, backed by documented electoral wins and a willingness to name powerful figures, marks it as a party determined to survive.
With the case still winding through the courts and political tensions running high, this battle over Accord’s future may well prove to be a bellwether for the fate of Nigeria’s smaller parties in the years ahead.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Accord Party‘s battle against deregistration ultimately boils down to one critical fact: the party has the receipts.
With two verified councillorship wins in Jigawa State in October 2024, complete with official Certificates of Return, Accord has demonstrated it meets the constitutional threshold required to remain on Nigeria’s electoral register.
The attempt by former lawmakers to push it out and the Attorney General’s apparent alignment with that effort without verifying the facts raises serious concerns about due process and the impartiality of those entrusted to uphold Nigeria’s democratic framework.
Until those wins are legally challenged and overturned, Accord’s deregistration has no constitutional leg to stand on.
