PMP Lawyer Says NDC Judgment Reversal Was About Disputed Logo, Not Politics
Counsel to the Peace Movement Party, Chikezie Ekeocha, has defended the application that led the Federal High Court in Lokoja to set aside its judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission to register the Nigeria Democratic Congress, insisting the move was driven by alleged concealment of material facts and a contested party logo rather than any political agenda.
Justice Isah Dashen had last Friday vacated the court’s December 10, 2025 judgment in Suit No. FHC/LKJ/CS/49/2025, holding that the earlier decision was delivered without hearing the PMP, a party whose legal interests were directly affected. The judge restored the status quo that existed before the December 2025 judgment and ordered that the substantive suit be heard afresh with the NDC, the PMP and INEC joined as parties.
Speaking with The PUNCH on Wednesday, Ekeocha said the dispute centred on ownership of the two finger victory sign logo which the NDC relied on for its registration, a symbol he said the PMP had earlier submitted to INEC during its own registration process. He explained that the NDC initially applied with an elephant logo before seeking to adopt the victory sign, and that INEC, in a letter dated September 12, 2025, declined the proposed logo because it was similar to that of another association whose registration was ongoing. He said the NDC then wrote to INEC on September 22, 2025, requesting permission to submit a fresh logo, yet later approached the court relying on the disputed symbol.
“They had already acknowledged the dispute over the logo and even requested permission from INEC to submit a fresh one. But when they went to court, they relied on the same logo that had become the subject of dispute,” he said.
Ekeocha said the PMP only approached the court after discovering that the judgment had blocked its own registration process. “The issue was not politics; it was about protecting a right that had been affected by a judgment delivered without hearing us,” he said, adding that “the court did not sit on appeal over its own judgment. It found that it had been misled by the concealment of material facts.”
The ruling has stirred significant political controversy. Since its registration following the December 2025 judgment, the NDC says it has conducted nationwide congresses, fielded candidates in bye elections in Nasarawa and Enugu states, and concluded primaries for all elective positions ahead of the 2027 general elections. The party’s National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas, described the ruling as flawed, argued that the court had become functus officio after its final judgment, and confirmed an appeal had been filed at the Court of Appeal, insisting the party “has not been deregistered.”
Opposition figures have framed the reversal within a wider pattern of pressure on rival parties before 2027. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, accused the Tinubu administration of seeking to weaken the opposition through judicial means, warning of a drift toward a one party state. The Kwankwasiyya Movement made similar allegations. Supporters of the ruling, however, point to the recent Court of Appeal decision on the deregistration of the ADC and four other parties as evidence that the judiciary serves all sides.
INEC has said it will await the certified true copy of the ruling before taking any lawful steps. Ekeocha confirmed that the NDC’s notice of appeal had come to his attention but said no record of appeal had been transmitted, adding that his client remained open to an out of court settlement. With party candidate submissions approaching, the appeal’s outcome could significantly shape the opposition landscape heading into 2027.