A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT), led by Adolphus Wabara, seeking to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and publish the Kabiru Turaki-led interim National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Salim Ibrahim ruled that the plaintiffs lacked the legal standing (locus standi) to institute the action, holding that the court had no jurisdiction to entertain the case.
The judge upheld the preliminary objections raised by INEC and members of the PDP interim leadership aligned with Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike.
Justice Ibrahim held that the plaintiffs failed to establish that INEC had recognised the Turaki-led interim NWC or that they had the authority to sue on behalf of the PDP. Consequently, the court struck out the PDP as the eighth plaintiff, ruling that the BoT members had no legal basis to include the party in the suit.
The court also granted applications by the Wike-backed PDP executives, including National Chairman Mohammed Abdulrahman, National Secretary Samuel Anyanwu and National Legal Adviser Kamardeen Ajibade, to join the proceedings as necessary parties.
After considering the substantive case, Justice Ibrahim held that the plaintiffs failed to prove their entitlement to the reliefs sought, affirming the Abdulrahman-led faction of the PDP as the recognised leadership.
Describing the suit as frivolous, an abuse of court process and lacking merit, the judge dismissed the case in its entirety.
The court awarded N10 million in costs against the plaintiffs in favour of the seven defendants and imposed an additional N10 million cost against the plaintiffs’ counsel, Chris Uche (SAN), under the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.
The suit, marked **FHC/ABJ/CS/1159/2026**, was filed by Wabara, former Niger State Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, former Information Minister Prof. Jerry Gana, PDP chieftain Olabode George, former Women Affairs Ministers Maryam Ciroma and Zainab Maina, Dame Esther Uduehi, and the PDP.
Initially filed against INEC alone, the number of defendants increased to seven after the court granted several joinder applications. The additional defendants included members of the Abdulrahman-led interim leadership and party chieftains Austin Nwachukwu, Abraham Amah and George Turner.
The plaintiffs had asked the court to compel INEC to recognise and publish the Kabiru Turaki-led interim NWC on its official website and update its records based on a May 4 letter allegedly forwarded by the PDP National Executive Committee.
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