2027: NDC will be on the ballot, Dickson declares

The National Leader of the National Democratic Coalition (NDC), Senator Seriake Dickson, has insisted that the party will participate in the 2027 general elections despite the recent court ruling that questioned aspects of its registration, declaring that attempts to stop the party amount to a deliberate effort to cripple Nigeria’s political opposition.

In a detailed defence of the party’s legal position during an interview, Dickson dismissed claims by the Peace Movement Party over ownership of the NDC’s disputed “Z” symbol, arguing that the association never sought registration as a political party and therefore had no legal standing in the proceedings that culminated in the court judgment.

“We followed due process,” Dickson said. “We applied through the courts and have now been duly registered in accordance with the Electoral Act and INEC’s guidelines. As of the date of that judgment, the symbol legally belongs to the NDC.”

Dickson made the declaration while speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today,  maintained that once a political party is registered, its logo is entered into INEC’s register of symbols, making it unlawful for any other group to claim ownership of it.

According to him, the rival association failed to pursue registration as a political party when the NDC did, adding that “for over 10 years, nobody even knew who they were.”

The former Bayelsa State governor also rejected the court’s reliance on the constitutional principle of fair hearing, arguing that the provision had been wrongly invoked.

He explained that if the association genuinely believed it had an interest in the case, the proper legal procedure would have been to seek leave from the Court of Appeal to be joined as an interested party.

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“They deliberately bypassed that process because they knew they could not satisfy the Court of Appeal that they had a legitimate interest in the matter,” he said.

Dickson questioned why the court proceeded to examine the substantive merits of an earlier judgment after declaring itself functus officio, insisting that the legal reasoning was inconsistent.

He further argued that the dispute was being wrongly portrayed as a trademark battle when, in reality, political party symbols are governed exclusively by the Electoral Act.

“We are not dealing with trademark rights or proprietary ownership of a symbol,” he said. “Even where a political party has been deregistered or has ceased to function for five years, another association may lawfully adopt and register that same symbol.”

Addressing the court’s finding that material facts were allegedly not disclosed during the earlier proceedings, Dickson firmly denied any suppression of information.

He maintained that INEC itself placed every relevant fact before the court, including the existence of the rival association.

According to him, the electoral commission confirmed in open court that the group was neither a registered political party nor an applicant in the registration exercise involving the NDC.

“There was full disclosure of every material fact before the court,” he said. “The question of joining them simply did not arise because you cannot join a political party that does not legally exist.”

Dickson also dismissed claims that registration under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) conferred political rights on the Peace Movement.

He argued that while such registration may recognise an association as a legal entity, it does not empower it to sponsor candidates, canvass for votes or function as a political party under the Electoral Act.”There is no legal conflict between registration under Part C of CAMA and registration as a political party,” he said.

The NDC leader accused unnamed political interests of exploiting the courts in an attempt to weaken the opposition ahead of the 2027 elections.

“What some people are trying to do is manufacture flimsy legal issues in order to truncate the growth of the political opposition,” he alleged. “They want to destabilise, weaken and scatter the opposition.”

While expressing respect for the judiciary, Dickson cautioned against actions capable of eroding public confidence in the courts, saying Nigeria’s democracy depends on maintaining the credibility of its institutions.

He said the NDC had already concluded the nomination of its candidates and was fully participating in INEC’s electoral processes.

“The NDC will be on the ballot,” Dickson declared. “INEC has already issued political parties with the codes required for candidate submissions, and we are proceeding accordingly.”