The court rejected an attempt to force INEC to recognize the leadership of the Turaki-led PDP ahead of the 2027 elections

The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to force the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize the interim leadership of the Tanimu Turaki-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) (SAN), thereby dealing a setback to the faction led by the Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara.

In a ruling delivered on Friday, Judge Salim Ibrahim rejected a request to order the election commission to update its records in favor of the Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC), ruling that the move was incompetent and outside the court’s jurisdiction.

The lawsuit was filed by members of the Wabara-led Supervisory Board, who requested legal intervention to validate all actions taken by the Turaki-led leadership and force INEC to officially recognize it as the legitimate national executive body of the party.

The plaintiffs also asked the court to direct the election umpire to publish the names of members of the provisional National Working Committee on its official website after they claimed the list had been forwarded to INEC via a letter dated May 4.

Among the plaintiffs are former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, former Governor of Niger State Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, former Minister of Information Prof. Jerry Gana, PDP Chairman Olabode George, former Ministers Maryam Ciroma and Zainab Maina, Dame Esther Uduehi and the People’s Democratic Party.

The lawsuit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1159/2026 names INEC as the sole defendant.

The plaintiff argued that based on Article 287 of the 1999 Constitution and Article 32 of the PDP Constitution, the KPU was obliged to recognize the interim leadership led by Turaki and enforce its official correspondence.

However, a faction of the party allied to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, challenged the competency of the lawsuit and the jurisdiction of the court to approve it.

The group, led by its National Chairman, Alhaji Abdulrahman Mohammed, sought to take part in the proceedings alongside National Secretary Senator Samuel Anyanwu, National Legal Adviser Kamardeen Ajibade, former PDP Imo Chairman Austin Nwachukwu, Abraham Amah and George Turner.

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The faction stated that it remained the original leadership of the PDP and argued that the plaintiff had no legal standing to file a lawsuit.

The court also urged the court to exclude the PDP as a party to the suit, and insisted that the case was filed without the party’s consent.

Although the plaintiffs opposed the application, arguing that those seeking to join had been excluded from the party and that no valid national convention had been held in Abuja in March, the court ruled in favor of the merger application before proceeding to determine the substantive case.

Judge Ibrahim considered that the applicants had sufficient interest in the case because the outcome of the lawsuit would have a direct impact on them.

The court then upheld the initial objections raised by the defendant and dismissed the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction.

Judge Ibrahim was of the opinion that the case constituted an abuse of the court process, noting that the plaintiff attempted to re-litigate an issue that had been determined by the competent court.

The judge also removed PDP as a plaintiff after finding there was no evidence that the party authorized it to file a lawsuit on its behalf.

According to the court, granting the requested relief would weaken existing court rulings regarding party leadership disputes.

Justice Ibrahim further stated that the lawsuit was only academic as INEC had been monitoring the PDP convention that produced the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led executive.

“The court does not decide hypothetical or academic questions,” Justice Ibrahim stressed.

The court also ruled that the action was improperly initiated by serving an Originating Summons even though the issues involved were highly controversial.

Additionally, Justice Ibrahim observed that the existing court ruling had annulled the PDP convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16, which produced the Turaki-led executive.

After upholding the objections raised by the defendants, the court dismissed the suit in its entirety, resulting in the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led leadership being recognized by INEC while the PDP’s internal leadership dispute continues.