NBA expresses worry over courts’ interference in political parties’ internal affairs

NBA’s caution comes amid the leadership crisis bedevelling the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which worsened after a recent ruling of the Court of Appeal.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), on Friday, expressed grave concerns over increasing interference by courts in the internal affairs of political parties.

In a statement signed by NBA President Afam Osigwe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the association said the actions, including those of lawyers who file suits inviting the courts to make pronouncements on such issues, violate the provisions of the Electoral Act.

“This emerging trend of subverting the clear letters of the Electoral Act and dragging courts into the internal affairs of political parties through disingenuous litigation, forum shopping, and mala fide applications designed to secure undemocratic political advantage, bodes no good for our democracy,” the statement said.

“Such practices, if not immediately curbed, would directly contradict the clear intendment of the Electoral Act and risk transforming the judicial processes into avenues for political score-settling or electoral manipulation.”

The statement did not cite any instance of court’s intrusion into parties’ internal affairs, but it comes on the heels of a recent Court of Appeal’s ruling on the leadership disputes within the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The crisis, which has brewed within the party for months, escalated after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently de-recognised leadership factions of the party based on its interpretation of the controversial ruling of the Court of Appeal.

Analysts say the snowballing problem could cost the party the 2027 elections. The party risks exclusion from the 2027 elections if it remains hamstrung by the crisis amid approaching INEC deadlines for organising key congresses and other activities that will culminate in picking candidates for the forthcoming general elections.

Leaders of the party protested peacefully in Abuja on Wednesday against what they considered to be INEC’s bias against the opposition party.

Friday’s statement by the NBA is the association’s latest caution against the conduct of Nigerian judges believed to undermine the integrity of the judiciary and the legal profession in general.

Last month, the association of Nigerian lawyers warned judges against bullying and demeaning lawyers under the guise of punishing them for contempt.

Read the NBA’s full statement issued on Friday below.

OUR LAWS AND DEMOCRACY MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL TIMES

The Nigerian Bar Association has closely monitored recent political and legal developments as the nation gradually approaches the 2027 General Elections. These developments, particularly those arising from the interpretation and potential application of provisions of the Electoral Act 2026, raise serious constitutional, democratic, and rule-of-law concerns that require immediate intervention.

We particularly deprecate the disturbing involvement by lawyers and courts in the internal affairs of political parties despite the clear provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026, which stipulates in Section 83 of the Act that “No court in Nigeria shall entertain jurisdiction over any suit or matter pertaining to the internal affairs of a political party.”

Not only are courts denied jurisdiction to entertain any matter pertaining to the internal affairs of a political party, but they are also precluded from granting any interim or interlocutory injunction even where any action has been brought in violation of the Act.

The section further provides that “Where such an action is brought in negation of this provision, no interim or interlocutory injunction shall be entertained by the Court, but the Court shall suspend its ruling and deliver it at the stage of final judgment and shall give accelerated hearing to the matter”.

What we now see are situations where actions are not only instituted in Courts by lawyers in clear violation of the Act, but Courts purportedly grant interim and/or interlocutory injunctions in clear contempt of statutory provisions of the law.

This does not augur well for our democracy. Democracy will not thrive in a situation where lawyers and courts take actions and decisions that not only negate our laws but also do violence to them.

This emerging trend of subverting the clear letters of the Electoral Act and dragging courts into the internal affairs of political parties through disingenuous litigation, forum shopping, and malafide applications designed to secure undemocratic political advantage, bodes no good for our democracy.

Such practices, if not immediately curbed, would directly contradict the clear intendment of the Electoral Act and risk transforming the judicial processes into avenues for political score-settling or electoral manipulation.