Dr. Umar Ardo
The legal battle over the registration of the All Democratic Alliance (ADA) as a political party has moved to the Court of Appeal, Abuja, after Dr. Umar Ardo challenged the June 29 judgment delivered by Justice Peter O. Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The appeal, filed against Chief Akin A. Ricketts, Dr. Aminu Ahmed and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is seeking to have the judgment set aside.
In the Notice of Appeal, Ardo argued that the Federal High Court ought to have dismissed the suit because it was filed outside the 14-day period provided under Section 76 of the Electoral Act, 2022.
He maintained that the case was instituted more than one month after the cause of action arose and was therefore statute-barred.
The appellant also argued that the suit amounted to an abuse of court process because an earlier case involving substantially the same parties and seeking the registration of ADA was already before the court.
According to him, filing a fresh suit while the earlier matter was still pending opened the door to conflicting judgments and undermined the appeal arising from the previous case.
Ardo further told the Court of Appeal that the trial court failed to properly consider evidence showing that the first respondent had been removed as ADA’s Protem National Chairman and was no longer a member of the association, thereby lacking the legal standing to institute the suit.
He urged the appellate court to overturn the judgment, insisting that the trial court misinterpreted the law and failed to properly evaluate the evidence placed before it.
