{"id":127964,"date":"2026-06-27T06:13:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T05:13:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=127964"},"modified":"2026-06-27T06:13:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T05:13:55","slug":"ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/","title":{"rendered":"NDC rejects Lokoja court ruling, heads to Appeal Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

By John Azu<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has rejected the judgment of a Federal High Court in Lokoja nullifying an earlier order that compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register it as a political party, announcing plans to immediately challenge the ruling at the Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n

Justice Isah Dashen had, in a ruling on Friday, upheld an application filed by the Peace Movement Party (PMP), declaring that the court’s December 10, 2025 judgment directing INEC to register the NDC was made without hearing all interested parties and was therefore null and void.<\/p>\n

But in a statement signed by its National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, the NDC described the ruling as legally flawed and said its lawyers had already been instructed to file an appeal.<\/p>\n

According to Zuwoghe, the party lawfully secured its registration after successfully challenging INEC’s refusal to register it, adding that the electoral body complied with the court’s order and no appeal was filed within the statutory period.<\/p>\n

“Since then, we have started political activities, embarked on the registration of members, held congresses from ward to national levels, held conventions, and concluded primaries to all offices following INEC’s timetable. We have been fully participating in all INEC activities without let or hindrance,” he said.<\/p>\n

The NDC chairman noted that the party had also participated in recent bye-elections in Nasarawa and Enugu states and had completed the nomination of candidates for all elective offices ahead of the 2027 general elections.<\/p>\n

“NDC also fielded candidates, and fully participated, in the just-concluded bye elections in Nasarawa and Enugu states.<\/p>\n

“Candidates for the House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, Governorship, Presidential, and Vice-Presidential positions have been duly nominated, and we are in the process of formally submitting them to INEC in accordance with INEC’s timetable,” he added.<\/p>\n

The party questioned the legal standing of the Peace Movement Party, describing it as an unregistered association that claimed it had sought registration using the same victory symbol adopted by the NDC.<\/p>\n

“It is important to note that they are not an association applying for registration now under the exercise that started last year. They are also not a registered political party in Nigeria participating in the political process now, as we are.<\/p>\n

“Furthermore, the court, having delivered a final judgment in our suit against INEC, had become\u00a0functus officio<\/em>. The court had also dealt with all related issues concerning associations claiming they wanted to use the same symbol and colours. The court, in its judgment, overruled INEC when those issues were raised, and there is no appeal against that judgment.<\/p>\n

“Therefore, we are surprised that, on an application by an association claiming that it wanted to register as a political party with the victory sign in 2015, an association that is not a registered political party and is not seeking registration now to participate in the current political process, His Lordship came to the conclusion that they have\u00a0locus standi<\/em>, and furthermore, that he has jurisdiction to do what he did.”<\/p>\n

The NDC further alleged that the legal challenge was part of efforts to narrow Nigeria’s democratic space ahead of the 2027 elections.<\/p>\n

The party said Nigerians deserve a robust multi-party democracy in which diverse political platforms are allowed to participate freely.<\/p>\n

“Nigerians have a right to a full range of opinions, ideas, and alternatives, and political platforms and candidates should be allowed to participate in the 2027 general election process, which has already gone midway.”<\/p>\n

It argued that the judgment sought to overturn a final decision through an improper legal process, insisting that any aggrieved party ought to have appealed the original judgment within the time allowed by law.<\/p>\n

“It is too late for anyone to attempt to use the judiciary to derail or narrow Nigeria’s multi-party democratic space. If the said association (PMP) were a party affected by the judgment on our initial suit, the only option open to it was to appeal the verdict, an option which it did not take before the window for that closed and it became statute barred.<\/p>\n

“To now try to upturn that verdict through the back door, via a motion, is not only unheard-of, but also illegal and an outright abuse of court process.”<\/p>\n

The party thanked its members and supporters for their continued confidence, assuring them that its candidates’ nominations remained valid despite the court ruling.<\/p>\n

“We thank Nigerians for their support, and we thank all our candidates, members and supporters for their confidence and trust in the party. We assure them that all nominations made remain valid, that our platform is strong and legal, and that justice will be served.”<\/p>\n

The latest development sets the stage for another round of legal contest over the status of the NDC as political activities ahead of the 2027 general elections continue to gather momentum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By John Azu The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has rejected the judgment of a Federal High Court in Lokoja nullifying an earlier order that compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nNDC rejects Lokoja court ruling, heads to Appeal Court - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NDC rejects Lokoja court ruling, heads to Appeal Court - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By John Azu The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has rejected the judgment of a Federal High Court in Lokoja nullifying an earlier order that compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-27T05:13:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nigeria-Democratic-Congress-NDC.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"581\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"headline\":\"NDC rejects Lokoja court ruling, heads to Appeal Court\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-27T05:13:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/\"},\"wordCount\":813,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nigeria-Democratic-Congress-NDC.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/\",\"name\":\"NDC rejects Lokoja court ruling, heads to Appeal Court - Pointblank News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nigeria-Democratic-Congress-NDC.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-27T05:13:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nigeria-Democratic-Congress-NDC.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nigeria-Democratic-Congress-NDC.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":581},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NDC rejects Lokoja court ruling, heads to Appeal Court\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\",\"name\":\"Pointblank News\",\"description\":\"Just the news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\",\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Our Reporter\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NDC rejects Lokoja court ruling, heads to Appeal Court - Pointblank News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NDC rejects Lokoja court ruling, heads to Appeal Court - Pointblank News","og_description":"By John Azu The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has rejected the judgment of a Federal High Court in Lokoja nullifying an earlier order that compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission…","og_url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/","og_site_name":"Pointblank News","article_published_time":"2026-06-27T05:13:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":581,"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nigeria-Democratic-Congress-NDC.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Our Reporter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Our Reporter","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/"},"author":{"name":"Our Reporter","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"headline":"NDC rejects Lokoja court ruling, heads to Appeal Court","datePublished":"2026-06-27T05:13:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/"},"wordCount":813,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nigeria-Democratic-Congress-NDC.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/","name":"NDC rejects Lokoja court ruling, heads to Appeal Court - Pointblank News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nigeria-Democratic-Congress-NDC.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-27T05:13:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nigeria-Democratic-Congress-NDC.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nigeria-Democratic-Congress-NDC.webp","width":1024,"height":581},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ndc-rejects-lokoja-court-ruling-heads-to-appeal-court\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NDC rejects Lokoja court ruling, heads to Appeal Court"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/","name":"Pointblank News","description":"Just the news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c","name":"Our Reporter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Our Reporter"},"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127966,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127964\/revisions\/127966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}