Court Affirms Wike-Backed PDP Leadership, Fines Wabara BoT

The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees led by former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, describing the case as an abuse of court process. The court also imposed a total cost of N150 million on the plaintiffs and their counsel.

In his judgment delivered on Friday, Justice Salim Ibrahim ruled that the case lacked merit and should not have been brought before the court. He awarded N140 million against the Wabara-led Board of Trustees and directed their lawyer, Chris Uche, SAN, to personally pay an additional N10 million. According to the court, the order was intended to discourage the filing of frivolous cases, particularly those relating to the internal affairs of political parties. The judge based the award on Section 83(6)(b) of the Electoral Act, 2026.

The case was filed by members of the Wabara-led Board of Trustees, who asked the court to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the interim National Working Committee (NWC) led by Kabir Turaki, SAN. They also argued that the names of the Turaki-led executives had already been submitted to INEC through letters dated May 4.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1159/2026, was filed on June 4 by a legal team led by Chris Uche, SAN.

The plaintiffs included Adolphus Wabara, former Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu, former Information Minister Prof. Jerry Gana, PDP chieftain Olabode George, former Minister of Women Affairs Maryam Ciroma, former Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development Zainab Maina, Dame Esther Uduehi and the PDP itself. INEC was named as the only defendant.

However, the PDP faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, challenged the suit and questioned the court’s jurisdiction to hear the matter.

While Chris Uche appeared for the plaintiffs, another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Sunday Ameh, appeared on behalf of the PDP, arguing that the party never authorised the filing of the suit in its name.

The Wike-backed leadership of the PDP, headed by National Chairman Mohammed Abdulrahman, National Secretary Senator Samuel Anyanwu and National Legal Adviser Kamardeen Ajibade, also applied to be joined in the case as defendants. They were represented by Emmanuel Ukala, SAN.

Another legal team led by Joseph Daudu, SAN, represented Imo State PDP Chairman Austin Nwachukwu, Abraham Amah and George Turner, who also sought to be joined in the matter.

The applicants urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that it was incompetent and amounted to an abuse of court process. INEC also filed a preliminary objection, asking the court to strike out the case.

Ameh informed the court that the PDP should not have been listed as a plaintiff because the party never gave approval for Chris Uche to institute the action. He therefore filed a notice seeking to remove the PDP’s name from the suit and requested a change of legal representation.

Chris Uche opposed the application, insisting that it was without merit and asking the court to reject both the request to remove the PDP as a plaintiff and the application for a change of counsel.

In his ruling, Justice Ibrahim agreed with the arguments presented by Ameh and held that the Wabara-led Board of Trustees had no legal authority to institute the action on behalf of the PDP.

The judge struck out the PDP as the eighth plaintiff, holding that the first to seventh plaintiffs lacked the legal power to include the party in the case.

He also granted the applications seeking to join Mohammed Abdulrahman, Samuel Anyanwu, Kamardeen Ajibade, Austin Nwachukwu, Abraham Amah and George Turner as second to seventh defendants.

On the issue of jurisdiction, the court agreed with INEC that the dispute related to the internal affairs of a political party, a matter over which the court could not exercise jurisdiction.

Justice Ibrahim also upheld the preliminary objections filed by the newly joined defendants. He ruled that, after striking out the PDP as a plaintiff, the remaining claims could not stand.

On the main case, the judge found that the plaintiffs failed to establish any legal basis for the reliefs they sought.

The court also upheld the leadership of the Mohammed Abdulrahman-led PDP faction, which is loyal to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and ruled that the requests made by the plaintiffs could not be granted.

Justice Ibrahim further held that earlier judgments, including one delivered by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik recognising the Abdulrahman-led leadership and granting it access to the party’s national secretariat, remain valid because they have not been overturned.

He also accepted the argument that the party convention held in March, which produced the current leadership recognised by the Wike-backed faction, was conducted in line with an existing court judgment that remains in force.

The judge concluded that the fresh action amounted to an attempt to reopen issues that had already been decided by competent courts.