The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja, seeking a stay of execution on a Federal High Court judgment that ordered the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.

INEC also backed a notice of appeal filed by the affected political parties, aligning itself with their request to suspend enforcement of the ruling.

At the appellate court sitting on Tuesday, INEC’s counsel, Haliru Mohammed, told the three-member panel that the commission was surprised by the decision of Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court to deliver judgment despite an earlier order of the Court of Appeal restraining such action.

He said INEC was not informed of any intention to proceed with the judgment and only learnt of the decision through media reports.

“My Lords, we are aware of an order that this court made on May 22, which stopped the delivery of the judgment of the lower court,” he said.

“We were not aware of any notice from the court regarding the delivery of the judgment. We only saw it as breaking news in the media.”

INEC therefore urged the Court of Appeal to grant the request for a stay of execution of the judgment, noting that it did not oppose the application filed by the appellants.