The Federal High Court in Abuja has directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register and recognise Citizens Democratic Alliance (CDA) as a political party in Nigeria.
The order was given on Tuesday by Justice Obiora Egwuatu while ruling on a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2787/25, filed by Tamunotonye Samuel Solomon Inioribo and two others against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Egwuatu was said to have told INEC to give the CDA a certificate of registration within seven days.
INEC announced in October 2025 that CDA and seven other associations had successfully completed the upload of all required information and documentation out of the 14 pre-qualified associations seeking registration as political parties.
The associations were 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).
The electoral umpire also confirmed that the eight associations would proceed to the next stage which is the detailed assessment and verification of the information and documents submitted by each association.
However, in December 2025, INEC announced that CDA’s application was unsuccessful.
INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, said only two of the eight were “qualified for the final assessment and verification of due compliance with the constitution and the Electoral Act” on February 5, 2026.
After the final review, only the DLA was registered by the commission and it satisfied all legal requirements, Amupitan said.
However, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), which was not one of the pre-qualified associations, was later registered by the commission.
Dissatisfied with the development, the claimants took INEC to court to challenge the legality of its decision.
The claimant argued that CDA met all constitutional and statutory requirements for registration.
The court on Tuesday upheld CDA’s argument and ordered INEC to register it as a political party ahead of the 2027 elections.
