DEMOCRACY UNDER SIEGE: Outrage Erupts as Lokoja Court Strips NDC of Political Party Status, Sparking Fierce Resistance from Serike Dickson and Peter Obi

LOKOJA, NIGERIA — The democratic foundations of the nation were thrown into absolute chaos following a stunning and highly controversial reversal by the Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja. In a ruling that has sent shockwaves through political circles, the court officially set aside its earlier judgment which had legally compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize and register the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) as a fully certified political party.

​The presiding judge, Honourable Justice Isah Dashen, delivering the ruling in a suit marked FHC/LKJ/CS/49/2025, held that the original judgment delivered on December 10, 2025, was reached without hearing all necessary parties. The court based its reversal on an application brought forward by an obscure group known as the Peace Movement Party (PMP)—an unregistered association that filed a motion claiming it was denied registration in 2015 while seeking to use the "victory sign" as its official party symbol.

​"An Illegal Ambush That Will Be Resisted" — Serike Dickson Fumes

​The judicial order provoked immediate, unyielding fury from NDC leaders. Reacting to the development, prominent party chieftain Serike Dickson issued a powerful, scathing rejoinder, jolting the public by declaring that the ruling completely lacks legal merit and represents a desperate attempt to stifle the democratic space.

​Dickson exposed the legal absurdity of the ruling, noting that the court had long become functus officio after delivering its final judgment against INEC. He pointed out that the PMP is completely unknown to the political process, is not among the 171 associations that applied for registration in 2025, nor was it among the 21 shortlisted.

​“All I can say is that the order lacks legal merit and is intended to affect the foundational credibility and efforts of our party. The order is illegal and will not stand,” Dickson declared dynamically. “We are not naive to expect that the tremendous progress we have achieved in the last five months would go without attack, but this particular development came from a very unlikely source. It is coming from those who are shocked by the progress the NDC has made within such a short period.”

​Dickson revealed that the NDC has already assembled an elite team of attorneys to aggressively challenge and set aside Justice Dashen's order. He urged millions of supporters to remain completely calm, noting that thousands of Nigerians registered as new NDC members today alone in massive waves of solidarity. Quoting his favorite phrase on struggles, Dickson noted: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, then you win. We are under attack... but thereafter, we shall win.”

​An Unnecessary Serious Setback for Democracy — Peter Obi Warns

​Amplifying the gravity of the judicial turn, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, described the Lokoja ruling as an exceptionally dark day for the country. Obi, who received the breaking news from Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso while attending engagements at Madonna University after visiting the School of Nursing Sciences in Emekuku, stated that every single Nigerian committed to national progress must be deeply alarmed by the creeping pattern of institutional decline.

​Obi argued that democracy cannot breathe where the legislature and the judiciary lose their core independence, credibility, and neutrality to dark partisan manipulations. He drew parallels to a similar institutional assault that recently targeted the African Democratic Congress (ADC), maintaining that his stance is entirely guided by principle rather than raw political ambition.

​“Every Nigerian committed to the country’s progress should be deeply concerned. This judgment represents another setback for our democracy and the institutions upon which our future depends,” Peter Obi stated unyieldingly. “My concern is not about who becomes President. My concern is that Nigeria works. Our politics must move beyond the quest for power and focus instead on building a united nation founded on justice, strong institutions, the rule of law, and equal opportunity.”

​The Battle Lines Are Drawn

​With both the NDC structure and major democratic stakeholders aligning in open defiance against the court's reversal, the political atmosphere in Nigeria has grown intensely charged. Grassroots mobilizers and legal analysts are widely viewing this case as a litmus test for multi-party democracy in the country.