The Federal High Court in Abuja has reserved judgment in a suit filed by the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, seeking an order compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the party’s interim National Working Committee (NWC) headed by Kabiru Turaki (SAN).
Justice Salim Ibrahim fixed no date for the judgment after hearing arguments from all parties on Tuesday, saying the date would be communicated to lawyers at least 24 hours in advance.
The suit, filed by Wabara, former Niger State Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, Prof. Jerry Gana, Chief Olabode George and other BoT members, asks the court to direct INEC to update its records and publish the Turaki-led interim NWC on its official website.
The plaintiffs argued that the names of the interim leadership were forwarded to INEC through letters dated May 4 following decisions reached by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).
However, the suit was strongly opposed by a rival PDP faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, which challenged the court’s jurisdiction and sought to stop the case.
The Wike-backed faction, represented by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Sunday Ameh on behalf of the PDP, argued that the party never authorised the suit and asked the court to strike out the PDP’s name as the eighth plaintiff.
Ameh told the court that the urgency claimed by the plaintiffs was “self-inflicted,” arguing that they ought to have approached the court much earlier if the matter was truly time-sensitive.
He also filed a notice of change of counsel and urged the court to remove the PDP as a plaintiff, insisting that the party did not authorise Chief Chris Uche (SAN) to institute the action on its behalf.
Uche opposed the application, describing it as frivolous and misconceived. He informed the court that the Turaki-led faction had filed a 72-paragraph counter-affidavit with supporting exhibits challenging the move to remove the party from the suit.
The courtroom also witnessed applications by Wike-backed PDP officials, including National Chairman Abdulrahman Mohammed, National Secretary Samuel Anyanwu and National Legal Adviser Kamardeen Ajibade, who sought to be joined as defendants.
Their lawyer, Emmanuel Ukala (SAN), argued that they were necessary parties because they were elected to lead the party’s caretaker committee following an earlier court judgment delivered in Ibadan which nullified the PDP convention held in November 2025.
Uche opposed the joinder application, describing the applicants as “meddlesome interlopers and busy bodies.”
He maintained that the dispute before the court concerned only INEC’s refusal to recognise the Turaki-led leadership and did not require the participation of the applicants.
Another application seeking joinder by former Imo PDP Chairman Austin Nwachukwu, Abraham Amah and George Turner was equally contested before the court.
INEC, through its lawyer Olusegun Adeyemi, also challenged the competence of the suit, filing a preliminary objection and urging the court to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction.
Adeyemi argued that the electoral commission’s objection was based on four legal grounds and asked the court to strike out the suit.
In response, Uche insisted that INEC had no legal basis to oppose the action, urging the court to dismiss the commission’s objection as lacking merit.
The court had earlier accelerated hearing of the matter after Uche argued that the case was time-bound because of INEC’s timetable for the 2027 general elections, which sets July 17 as the deadline for political parties to upload candidates’ details.
After hearing all pending applications, preliminary objections and arguments on the substantive suit, Justice Ibrahim reserved judgment, with the date to be communicated to all parties later.
