A Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out a suit seeking to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and publish the Kabiru Turaki-led interim National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), ruling that the plaintiffs lacked the legal standing to institute the case.
Justice Salim Ibrahim, in a judgment delivered on Friday, held that the suit filed by the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Adolphus Wabara, alongside other BoT members and party stakeholders, was incompetent and therefore deprived the court of jurisdiction.
The court also upheld the preliminary objections filed by INEC and members of the Nyesom Wike-backed PDP leadership, granted their applications to be joined in the suit, and subsequently struck out the case.
The ruling is expected to have significant implications for decisions taken by the Turaki-led faction, including its nomination of former President Goodluck Jonathan as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
The Turaki-led faction had, in May, announced Jonathan as its presidential flag bearer after a special national convention held at the party’s national secretariat in Area 10, Garki, Abuja, ratified his candidacy.
The plaintiffs in the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1159/2026, included former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, former Niger State Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, former Minister of Information Jerry Gana, former PDP Deputy National Chairman Olabode George, former Ministers Maryam Ciroma and Zainab Maina, PDP BoT member Dame Esther Uduehi, as well as the PDP itself. INEC was listed as the sole defendant.
They had asked the court to direct INEC to publish on its official website the composition of the interim NWC led by Kabiru Turaki, as forwarded by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).
The plaintiffs also sought declarations that, under Article 32 of the PDP Constitution, INEC was obligated to recognise the interim leadership and that, pursuant to Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution, the electoral body was bound to comply with previous court judgments relating to the PDP leadership dispute.
However, the Wike-backed PDP leadership applied to join the proceedings, arguing that it was the authentic leadership of the party, having emerged from the PDP’s March 2026 national convention.
The faction further contended that the plaintiffs lacked the legal standing to institute the suit and that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain their claims.
Although the plaintiffs opposed the joinder applications, maintaining that the applicants had previously been expelled from the party, both INEC and the Wike-backed faction urged the court to dismiss the suit through preliminary objections.
At the time of the proceedings, INEC’s official website recognised Abdulrahman Mohammed as the PDP National Chairman alongside other officials backed by the Wike-led leadership.
In his judgment, Justice Ibrahim held that the joinder applications were meritorious because the interests of the applicants would be directly affected by the outcome of the case.
He further ruled that the plaintiffs were attempting to relitigate issues that had already been settled by competent courts and lacked the authority to institute the action in the name of the PDP.
According to the judge, the suit had become merely academic, noting that evidence before the court showed that the PDP convention which produced the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led National Working Committee was duly monitored by INEC.
The court consequently struck out the PDP as the eighth plaintiff, upheld the preliminary objections raised by the defendants, and dismissed the suit for lack of jurisdiction.
Invoking Section 83(6)(b) of the Electoral Act 2026, Justice Ibrahim awarded costs of N70 million against the plaintiffs in favour of the first to seventh defendants.
He also ordered the plaintiffs’ counsel to personally pay an additional N10 million in costs.
