FREETOWN, Aug. 19 2026 – Sierra Leone’s Political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC) has confirmed that the current executive of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) will remain in office pending a court decision on a legal challenge to part of the commission’s directives concerning the party’s leadership.
The PPRC said on Monday that it was constrained from implementing the second part of a directive issued to the APC in February after a member of the party filed a court case against both the commission and the party.
The dispute centres on the future management of the APC and the organisation of its National Delegates’ Conference.
The PPRC said it had exercised its constitutional and statutory mandate under Section 39(5) of the Political Parties Act 2022, Act No. 25 of 2022, to extend the tenure of the APC executive for six months.
The extension was intended to give the party additional time to address its internal leadership arrangements and proceed towards a National Delegates’ Conference.
But the February directive also contained a second provision dealing with what would happen if the APC executive failed to organise the delegates’ conference after the six-month extension expired.
Under that provision, the APC’s Leader in Parliament, together with five other APC members of parliament representing each region, would assume responsibility for managing the party’s affairs until the National Delegates’ Conference was held.
The proposed arrangement has now been put on hold because of the court proceedings.
The PPRC said the legal action prevented it from implementing that second directive until the court determines the matter.
“In light of the above and in cognizance of the fact that a member of the party has taken the PPRC and the All People’s Congress to court regarding the second directive, the Commission is constrained to effect its second directive thus, the status quo shall remain the same pending the determination of the matter in court,” the commission said.
The decision means that the existing APC executive will continue to administer the party while the legal challenge is before the courts.
The PPRC did not identify the APC member who initiated the court proceedings and did not provide details of the arguments made in the case.
It also did not give an indication of when the court is expected to determine the matter or whether the case could affect the timing of the National Delegates’ Conference.
The development is significant for the APC, one of Sierra Leone’s two main political parties, which has been dealing with internal leadership and organisational questions ahead of its next delegates’ conference.The PPRC’s intervention is part of its statutory responsibility to regulate political parties and ensure compliance with Sierra Leone’s political parties legislation.
The commission’s February decision to extend the APC executive’s tenure was designed to provide additional time for the party to organise its affairs and prepare for the National Delegates’ Conference.
The second part of the directive established an alternative management arrangement if the conference did not take place within the extended period.
That arrangement would have shifted responsibility for the party’s administration from the existing executive to the APC’s parliamentary leader and five other MPs representing the country’s regions.
With the legal challenge now before the courts, that proposed transition will not take effect.The PPRC’s latest statement therefore leaves the current executive as the body responsible for the day-to-day affairs of the APC until the court rules on the dispute.
The commission did not say whether the six-month extension itself was being challenged. Its statement specifically referred to the court action concerning the second part of its February directive.
The clarification is intended to resolve uncertainty over who has authority to manage the APC while the legal proceedings continue.It also means that any change to the proposed interim leadership structure will depend on the eventual outcome of the court case.
The PPRC urged stakeholders to take note of its position and await the determination of the matter through the judicial process.
The statement was signed by Lucien H.L. Momoh, Director of Public Education and ICT at the Political Parties Regulation Commission. For now, the APC’s current executive remains in control of the party, while the PPRC’s proposed alternative management arrangement remains suspended pending the court’s decision.
