The National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Senator Seriake Dickson, has insisted that the party remains legally recognised despite a recent Federal High Court ruling in Lokoja, Kogi State.
Dickson said the court judgment did not deregister the party, adding that the NDC had already begun legal steps to challenge the decision, which it believes was wrongly delivered.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Sunday, the Bayelsa West senator argued that the court lacked the legal authority to revisit a matter it had already decided, describing the ruling as improper.
“It’s a court that ordinarily doesn’t have jurisdiction to sit on appeal over its own earlier judgments,” he said.
The former Bayelsa State governor said the party strongly disagreed with the legal basis of the judgment and was confident it would be overturned on appeal.
“Basically, we disagree as a party about the legal basis and the propriety of the ruling. The party is taking the appropriate and right legal steps to ensure that the right thing is done,” he said.
Dickson maintained that the NDC had not been deregistered and remained qualified to participate in the elections.
According to him, the party successfully conducted primary elections for all elective positions, including state assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, governorship and presidential candidates, within the timetable approved by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The NDC has not been deregistered. The NDC has validly nominated candidates for all elective offices in primaries monitored nationwide by INEC,” he said.
He added that he is also one of the party’s senatorial candidates and that all nominations remain valid because they were conducted in line with INEC guidelines.
Dickson explained that submitting candidates’ names to INEC is only an administrative process and does not affect the legality of the party’s nominations.
He assured party members and candidates that their nominations remain valid and urged them to remain calm.
The senator also disclosed that the party would challenge the judgment at the Court of Appeal and, if necessary, take the matter to the Supreme Court.
He argued that once a court has delivered judgment on a matter, it should not reopen the same case, describing the ruling as a violation of the legal principle of finality.
Dickson further claimed that public interest in the NDC had increased since the judgment, saying thousands of Nigerians had visited the party’s website to register as members since Friday.
