GRIP Drags INEC to Court Over Alleged Premature Closure of Party Registration Portal

The Grass-roots Initiative Party (GRIP) has filed a suit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the Federal High Court in Abuja over the alleged unlawful closure of its political party registration portal.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/…/2025, GRIP, alongside its National Chairperson, Nze Kanayo Chukwumezie, and Mohammed Abas Kuti, accused INEC of shutting its portal before the expiration of the stipulated 30-day window, despite the party having paid the mandatory ₦2 million administrative fee.

The plaintiffs contend that INEC’s action violated the Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, 2022, as well as the Commission’s Political Party Registration Portal (PPRP) User Guide, which granted them 30 days to complete the upload of required documents.

Through their counsel, Jideoffor Ukachukwu and Paul Omotosho, the plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the closure of the portal on October 19, 2025—when they allegedly still had 27 days remaining—illegal, arbitrary and unlawful.

They further urged the court to compel INEC to reopen the portal or grant them fresh access to complete the registration process, as well as extend any timelines relating to the registration of GRIP as a political party.

In an affidavit, Chukwumezie stated that GRIP applied for registration on July 16, 2025, and received acknowledgment from INEC on July 25, 2025. He added that the party was among the 14 associations shortlisted out of 171 to proceed to the registration stage, following INEC’s publication of September 11, 2025.

According to him, INEC subsequently issued a letter dated September 12, 2025, granting GRIP provisional approval to apply for registration as a political party.

He explained that after paying the ₦2 million fee on October 15, 2025, the party logged into the portal on October 16, where a countdown clearly indicated 30 days to complete the process. The countdown reportedly reduced daily until October 18, showing 28 days remaining, before access was abruptly blocked the following day.

Chukwumezie described INEC’s action as arbitrary and aimed at unlawfully denying GRIP registration, noting that repeated appeals to the Commission to restore access had yielded no result.

INEC has yet to respond publicly to the suit.