PDP

Author: Gist Correspondent

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT), led by former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, has filed a suit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), seeking official recognition of the party’s interim National Working Committee (NWC).

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1159/2026, was filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on June 4 by a legal team led by Chief Chris Uche (SAN).

The plaintiffs are Wabara, former Niger State Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, Prof. Jerry Gana, Chief Olabode George, Hajiya Maryam Ciroma, Hajiya Zainab Maina, Dame Esther Uduehi and the PDP.

INEC is the sole defendant in the case.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to compel the electoral commission to update its records and publish on its official platform the membership of the interim NWC headed by Tanimu Turaki, which they said was forwarded to the commission by the party’s BoT and National Executive Committee (NEC).

According to the suit, the names of the interim leadership were formally communicated to INEC through letters dated May 4, 2026.

The legal action comes amid the lingering leadership crisis within the opposition party and follows a series of court judgments affecting its internal structure.

Recently, the Court of Appeal in Abuja overturned key aspects of a judgment delivered by a Federal High Court in Ibadan, which had recognised a factional caretaker committee within the PDP.

The appellate court held that the lower court granted reliefs that were not sought by any of the parties involved in the case.

Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, who delivered the unanimous judgment, faulted the trial court for making declarations beyond the issues submitted for determination.

The lower court had earlier recognised a caretaker committee led by Abdurahman Mohammed and Samuel Anyanwu, a development that further deepened divisions within the party.

In the fresh suit, the Wabara-led BoT argued that INEC is constitutionally bound to comply with existing judgments delivered by the Federal Capital Territory High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court concerning the PDP leadership dispute.

The plaintiffs contend that those judgments affirmed decisions affecting the status of certain party officials and created a vacuum that necessitated the establishment of an interim NWC.

In an affidavit supporting the suit, Aliyu stated that several key PDP officials, including Samuel Anyanwu, Umar Bature, Adeyemi Ajibade and Okechukwu Osuoha, were suspended by the party’s NWC on November 1, 2025, over allegations of gross misconduct, anti-party activities and insubordination.

He said the suspension was subsequently ratified by the NWC and the affected officials were referred to the party’s National Disciplinary Committee for further action.

According to Aliyu, the officials failed to submit themselves to the disciplinary process and continued to act in their former capacities despite the sanctions imposed on them.

He further stated that Anyanwu was later recommended for expulsion by the disciplinary committee and that the recommendation was endorsed by the NWC.

Aliyu explained that Anyanwu challenged his expulsion in court, but the FCT High Court dismissed his suit on the merits in January 2026.

The former governor said the PDP’s elective national convention held in November 2025 was subsequently nullified by the Court of Appeal, a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court.

He argued that the judgments also affirmed the suspension of the affected party officials, thereby creating vacancies in the party’s leadership structure.

To address the situation, he said the BoT constituted an interim NWC to oversee party affairs pending the conduct of a valid national convention.

Aliyu maintained that the decision was endorsed by both the BoT and the NEC and duly communicated to INEC.

He added that portfolios were later assigned to members of the interim NWC and the commission was notified accordingly.

However, he accused INEC of refusing to update its records or accord recognition to the interim leadership despite receiving multiple communications and legal representations on the matter.

According to him, the commission’s refusal to act amounts to a disregard for valid and subsisting court judgments.

He described the development as a violation of the rule of law and the supremacy of the Constitution.

The plaintiffs are therefore seeking court orders directing INEC to recognise the interim NWC, accept all official communications from it and channel all correspondence relating to the PDP through the body.

They also want the court to compel the electoral commission to fully implement the relevant court decisions cited in the suit.

As of the time of filing the report, the case had not been assigned to a judge for hearing.