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A United States-based lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has condemned a Nigerian High Court judgement ordering the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.
The ruling, delivered on Monday, directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC, Accord Party, Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) over what the court found to be their failure to meet constitutional requirements for continued registration.
Von Batten-Montague-York, in a post shared on X on Tuesday, described the ruling as “the first act in how to steal an election” and referred to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu as the country’s “new dictator.”
“Based on reports, the Nigerian government under Nigeria’s new dictator, President Bola Tinubu (@officialABAT), has essentially just banned Nigeria’s opposition political parties, including Nigeria’s main opposition party, @ADCNig,” the post read.
“State Department reports have long suggested that the Nigerian government frequently uses the judiciary as a political tool to target opponents and influence political outcomes.”
The lobbying firm said it is monitoring the development closely and will brief the United States government and Congress on the court ruling.
“We are monitoring these developments closely and will comment further after briefing members of the @realDonaldTrump administration and Congress tomorrow on these troubling developments. President #Tinubu is prepared to throw Nigeria into a civil war in order to stay in power, and he must be stopped,” it added.
Former Vice President and ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar reportedly engaged Von Batten-Montague-York, LLC to support and strengthen his reputation in the US.
The lobbying firm has previously been critical of the Tinubu administration.
Imagine if, one month before the historic election of President #Trump in 2024, a judge appointed by President @JoeBiden ordered the banning of the Republican Party (@GOP). That is basically what has just happened in #Nigeria in what we would call the first act in how to steal an… pic.twitter.com/K9dfc1oTlq
— Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. (@batten_von) June 15, 2026
