The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the Citizens Democratic Alliance (CDA) as a political party.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu issued the order on Tuesday while delivering judgment in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2787/25, filed by Tamunotonye Samuel Solomon Inioribo and two other plaintiffs against INEC.

The court directed the electoral commission to issue a certificate of registration to the CDA within seven days.

The dispute arose from INEC’s handling of applications submitted by associations seeking registration as political parties ahead of future elections.

In October 2025, INEC announced that eight associations, including the CDA, had successfully completed the upload of all required information and documentation as part of the registration process. The commission stated that the next stage would involve a detailed assessment and verification of the documents submitted by the associations.

The eight associations were the Citizens Democratic Alliance (CDA), All Democratic Alliance (ADA), Abundance Social Party (ASP), African Alliance Party (AAP), Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA), Green Future Party (GFP), National Democratic Party (NDP), and Peoples Freedom Party (PFP).

However, in December 2025, INEC declared the CDA’s application unsuccessful.

Subsequently, on February 5, 2026, INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan disclosed that only two of the eight associations had qualified for the final stage of assessment and verification for compliance with the Constitution and the Electoral Act.

According to Amupitan, only the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) met all legal requirements following the final review and was subsequently registered by the commission.

The controversy deepened when INEC later registered the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), an association that was not among the eight groups earlier pre-qualified by the commission.

Dissatisfied with the development, the plaintiffs approached the court, challenging the legality of INEC’s decision to deny registration to the CDA.
They argued that the association had complied with all constitutional and statutory requirements for registration as a political party and accused the commission of acting unlawfully in rejecting its application.

In his judgment, Justice Egwuatu agreed with the claimants and ordered INEC to register the CDA and issue its certificate of registration within seven days.

The ruling is expected to have significant implications for the registration of political parties in Nigeria, particularly regarding compliance with constitutional provisions and the transparency of INEC’s registration process.