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...Wabara fined N140m
The leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took a fresh turn on Friday as the Kabiru Turaki-led Interim National Working Committee (INWC) announced plans to challenge the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which dismissed its suit seeking official recognition as the party\'s authentic leadership.
The decision to appeal came shortly after Justice Salim Ibrahim struck out the suit filed by the Senator Adolphus Wabara-led Board of Trustees (BoT), describing it as incompetent, frivolous and an abuse of court process.
The court also imposed N140 million in costs against the seven BoT members who instituted the suit and ordered their lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), to personally pay N10 million for filing what it considered an unwarranted action over the internal affairs of a political party.
The suit sought an order compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and publish the names of members of the Kabiru Turaki-led Interim National Working Committee on its official portal.
The plaintiffs argued that the names of the interim executives had been forwarded to INEC through letters dated May 4 and urged the court to compel the electoral commission to accord them official recognition.
However, the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led National Working Committee, backed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, challenged the competence of the suit and questioned the authority of the BoT to institute legal proceedings on behalf of the party.
Another senior lawyer, Sunday Ameh (SAN), also appeared on behalf of the PDP and urged the court to strike out the party\'s name as a plaintiff, arguing that Chief Uche lacked the party\'s authorisation to file the action.
Several party officials, including National Chairman Abdulrahman Mohammed, National Secretary Samuel Anyanwu, National Legal Adviser Kamardeen Ajibade, Imo PDP Chairman Austin Nwachukwu, Abraham Amah and George Turner, were joined as defendants after the court granted their applications.
In his judgment, Justice Ibrahim upheld the preliminary objections raised by INEC and the defendants, ruling that the BoT members had no legal authority to institute the action on behalf of the PDP.
The court consequently struck out the PDP as the eighth plaintiff and held that its inclusion in the suit was unlawful.
Justice Ibrahim further ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction to determine disputes arising from the internal administration and leadership of a political party, agreeing with INEC that the matter was not justiciable.
He also held that the issues raised had already been settled by previous court decisions, including an earlier judgment affirming the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led leadership and granting it control of the party\'s national secretariat.
According to the judge, the fresh suit amounted to an attempt to relitigate issues already determined by competent courts.
Describing the action as frivolous, the court awarded N20 million costs each against the first to seventh plaintiffs, amounting to N140 million, pursuant to Section 83(6)(b) of the Electoral Act, 2026.
Justice Ibrahim also directed Chief Chris Uche (SAN) to personally pay N10 million to discourage lawyers from filing frivolous suits, particularly those relating to the internal affairs of political parties.
The judgment leaves INEC\'s recognition of the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led National Working Committee intact. The commission had already granted the Wike-backed leadership access to its nomination portal for the upload of the party\'s presidential and National Assembly candidates for the 2027 elections before the July 14 deadline.
Reacting to the judgment, the Turaki-led INWC said it had instructed its lawyers to challenge the decision at the Court of Appeal.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the faction said although it respected the judgment of the trial court, it believed the decision was inconsistent with existing judgments of the appellate and apex courts.
The group expressed confidence that it would secure victory on appeal, insisting that its struggle was aimed at protecting internal democracy, the rule of law and the survival of genuine opposition politics in Nigeria.
