A Federal High Court ruling ordering the suspension of the newly registered Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has sparked condemnation from prominent opposition figures, including the former Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Justice Isah Dashen of the Federal High Court sitting on Friday in Lokoja issued the order, which the NDC and its allies have described as illegal, anti-democratic and politically motivated.
Dickson, who is a leading figure in NDC, was unsparing in his reaction, describing the ruling as lacking legal merit and vowing to resist it.
He noted that the suit was filed by an unregistered association that neither applied for registration in 2025 nor featured among the 171 associations that did, raising questions about it standing before the court.
“The order is illegal and will not stand. It is against multi-party democracy, anti-democratic in nature, and aimed at narrowing and stifling the democratic space,” Dickson said, adding the party’s legal team was already taking steps to set the order aside.
He called on NDC members, candidates, and supporters, to remain calm and continue with their normal political activities, framing the development as an attack borne of fear of the party’s rapid growth. According to him, thousands of Nigerians registered as NDC members on the same day of the ruling as a show of solidarity.
Peter Obi, who said he received the news of the ruling while attending engagements in Imo State, described it as a set back for Nigerian democracy and warned of a pattern of institutional decline.
Drawing a parallel with a similar recent development affecting the ADC, Obi said his condemnation was guided by principle rather than partisan interest.
“The legislature and the judiciary are increasingly being drawn into this pattern of institutional decline. Democracy cannot thrive where institutions lose their independence and credibility,” he said, urging Nigerians to rise above partisan interest in defence of democratic governance.
Atiku Abubakar, the ADC’s presidential candidate, went further, directly linking the court action to what he described as President Bola Tinubu’s ambition to establish a de facto one-party state ahead of the 2027 elections.
He said the move was consistent with what he called the “true colours” of a President whose actions contradict his shared commitment to free and fair elections.
Atiku urged Tinubu to take cue from his Predecessors, noting that neither former President Muhammadu Buhari nor former President Goodluck Jonathan moved to deregister opposition parties during their tenures.
If you’re truly popular and your policies have positively bettered the lives of the citizens, you shouldn’t be afraid of free and fair competition,” he said.
Speaking to the Judiciary, the former Vp called Judges to resist being weaponised by politicians and warned that the conduct of a few risked damaging the broader credibility of the courts.
