Nigeria, June 22 -- Nigeria's democratic process received yet another jolt in the build-up to the 2027 general elections recently, with a Federal High Court, Abuja, judgment that ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties for purportedly failing to meet the constitutional threshold needed to continue to exist.

The Justice Peter Lifu judgment against the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), came barely a week after they, along with other parties, had concluded their primaries for the selection of flag bearers for next year's polls.

This created confusion due to how it would have affected ...