If you have seen headlines about political parties being "deregistered" ahead of 2027, you may be wondering whether the candidates you were following are still in the race. Here is the plain version, without taking sides.
What the court ordered
A Federal High Court ruled that five parties failed to meet the constitutional thresholds for continued registration and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister them. The five are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), the Accord Party (AP) and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Why nothing has changed yet
On 16 June 2026, the Court of Appeal stayed that judgment — meaning it stopped INEC from acting on it — while the affected parties pursue their appeals. The appellate court also criticised the way the lower-court order was issued. Substantive hearings in the appeal have been proceeding since. Until the appeal is decided, these parties remain registered, and their candidates remain on the ballot.
In short: an order exists, but it is on hold. No party on that list has actually been removed.
What this means for you as a voter
Because the situation is unresolved — and could still go either way — PoliticsDirect does not remove any candidate from a party under this cloud. Taking a card down would be its own form of editorialising, and it would leave you less informed, not more. Instead, every affected candidate now carries a clearly visible notice: "Deregistration ordered — stayed on appeal." Open the candidate's profile and you will see a short explanation with a link to the court report, so you can judge it for yourself.
If the appeal is finally decided, we will update every affected card to reflect the outcome.
The rest of the field is unaffected
The other parties and candidates on your ballot are not touched by this case. The presidential field is set — including Bola Tinubu (APC), Atiku Abubakar (ADC), Peter Obi, now the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, and Goodluck Jonathan (PDP), among others. The general election remains scheduled for 16 January 2027.
Our commitment is simple: show you the whole ballot, flag what is genuinely uncertain, and never quietly decide for you who counts.