“SDP Asks Appeal Court To Halt Judgment Restoring Expelled Leadership” — Seeks To Stop INEC From Recognising Contested Osun Governorship Candidatesults

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja seeking an order to halt the execution of a Federal High Court judgment that purports to restore its expelled former leadership and validate a contested governorship candidacy in Osun State.

In a Motion on Notice marked CA/ABJ/CV/1011/2026, the SDP asks the appellate court to stay the execution of the June 24, 2026 decision delivered by Justice M.G. Umar in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/402/2026.

The party also prays that the court restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from giving effect to the lower court’s directive pending the final determination of the substantive appeal.

The party’s core argument centres on judicial hierarchy and precedent. The Federal High Court judgment ordered INEC to enforce a Court of Appeal judgment delivered on March 27, 2026, in Fayemi Tosin Babatunde v. INEC, which sought to install Shehu Gabam as National Chairman.

However, the SDP maintains that the apex court had already put the matter to rest on May 22, 2026, when the Supreme Court set aside that judgment, prompting INEC to comply and recognise Prof. Sadiq Umar Abubakar Gombe as the substantive National Chairman.

In its court filings, the party labelled the lower court’s subsequent order an untenable attempt to overturn a superior ruling:

“It is an act of judicial rascality and a complete legal nullity for a Federal High Court to contradict the Supreme Court or purport to revive a judgment which the apex court has already voided and set aside.”

The legal battle stems from a dispute over the SDP’s governorship primary for the upcoming 2026 Osun State Governorship election. The lower court’s ruling recognised Salawu-Adeniyi Mustapha Olaitan as the party’s flagbearer.

The SDP, however, explicitly rejected the claims of the respondents listed in the suit, including Olaitan, former National Chairman Shehu Musa Gabam, and former National Youth Leader Uchechukwu Chukwuma (Ogbonna Okechukwu). The party noted that both Gabam and Chukwuma have been expelled and are currently facing criminal prosecution at the Wuse Magistrate Court.

“The party denies all three respondents as non-members who lack the authority to dictate internal party affairs or hold candidate status under the SDP banner,” the applicant stated in its motion.

Brought under Section 17 of the Court of Appeal Act and Order 4 Rule 6(2) of the Court of Appeal Rules (2021), the motion argues that urgent intervention is necessary to prevent the main appeal from becoming academic.

The party warned that allowing INEC to execute the Federal High Court order would irreversibly disrupt the party’s internal administration and electoral preparations:

“Unless the execution of the judgment is suspended, the subject matter of the appeal will be altered before the appellate court has an opportunity to make a binding pronouncement. The interest of justice is served only by preserving the existing state of affairs pending the determination of the substantive appeal.”

No date has yet been set by the Court of Appeal for the hearing of the motion or for ruling on the reliefs sought.